Oblivion
by Gaaras-Gothic-Ninja-Sappy-Sue
Summary: He's lost himself to drugs, his boyfriend of five years leaves him for a narcissistic jerk and his grandmother refuses to loan him anymore money. Naruto thinks its time for a change.
1. Syringe

**Oblivion**

Chapter One:_Syringe_

Finding a vein was getting more difficult with every shot. Naruto remembered with a fogged mind the first time he tried this. His arms were popping with veins then- Green, blue, red- you name it. Now they were all pale- barely visible. He had to use a belt now- to force them out. It was annoying at first, but now he didn't need his friends to tighten the belt for him.

Friends. When was the last time he saw those guys? Naruto heard Shino quit- said that he was killing his bugs with the drugs or some other lame lie. Come to think of it, it was only Naruto, Sasuke and Kiba now- and even the dog boy was drifting from the blond.

Finally, he found a small vein on his left arm- just above his elbow. He inserted the syringe into the thin line and sighed deeply as the heroin took effect quickly. In an instant he dropped the syringe onto the floor, and the belt around his arm loosened. This dose was even stronger than the one he bought last week.

In seconds, Naruto's mind was already leaving his body and the blond could see himself laying on the bed with his hands running through his hair, with a euphoric feeling erupting somewhere from his stomach to his chest. Naruto made a moaning sound as he was lifted up, up, up. He was touching the ceiling now, but he could still see himself down on the bed with his arms wrapped around his body, quivering with pleasure.

He was so high he floated past the ceiling, and his mind stretched through the white chipped surface and he found himself entering the apartment above his own- And through all of this, he could still see his body down on the bed, touching himself and shaking his head as bursts of pleasure swished around his insides.

Naruto found it amazing, how a simple dose of something so small, yet so powerful could do this to a person. Give them superpowers. He could see two things at the same time- he could _be_ two places at once.

The only bad thing about something that made you feel so good- so 'perfect'- was the after math. The stronger the dose- the higher you soar, the harder you come crashing down, and already, Naruto was crashing. And he was crashing down hard.

Only moments before, Naruto was floating in a euphoric bliss, and now he could feel himself tumbling back down into the small apartment, onto the hard bed, faced with the off-white walls that forced him prisoner.

In a sudden flash that blinded him for a moment, his bed disappeared, and he was crashing again- falling into an even deeper abyss- a hell worse than walls of his apartment. He could no longer be two places at once; he could no longer to see two things at the same time. Instead he was nowhere, and he could see nothing. Only darkness. And he was a small speck in that darkness. A small useless speck of blonde.

Naruto became vaguely aware of a low grunting sound above him- not his own. He felt hands on him- not his own. A voice breathed into his ear, and the blond tried to open his eyes. He saw a dark flash. It was a brunette- jerking on top of him. Naruto let out a sound- the euphoric feeling in his stomach was replaced with a foreign but full feeling. Another moan escaped his mouth- from pleasure- but wasn't the same. Not like the gratification he felt before- not like the feeling that he was whole- whole and _beyond_. This pleasure was just a dull, pulsing diversion from the ever present reality that was only now coming to life.

"Christ, Naruto…" the person above him grunted again. He was jerking more unevenly now his breath hitched and he let out another grunt.

"When was the last time you-." The person above him stopped short and let out a broken sigh.

Naruto absentmindedly noted the added wetness to his insides. Then he blinked when the brunette pulled out of him. "What the hell is up with you today?" he asked. The words were muffled.

Naruto shrugged, only because he was still crashing. The sudden juxtaposition from pleasure to nothingness was hitting him harder than any other drug ever had.

"I felt like you weren't there the entire time." This was said in a bitter tone, and Naruto made an effort to lift his head up so he could see the person's face.

"Sasuke…" he whispered softly. His voice was taut- as if he was screaming only moments before. The blonde was surprised he knew the man's name in the first place. He must've been an important person if Naruto could remember his name amidst the awful feeling that was punching his insides.

"That's the last time I let you do that shit in front of me." The brunette was climbing off of the bed and he had the syringe in his hand. He threw it to the side and reached towards the ground to pull up his pants.

"Sasuke…" Naruto said again. He tried to get up somehow, but a rising headache was stopping him. "Where are you going…" the blonde stopped after that, and fell back onto the bed. His breathing became a bit labored as he, for some reason, lost his breath. His eyes traveled to meet Sasuke's gaze and he hated what he saw in them. Pity. Naruto rolled his eyes, and the sudden gesture cleared his mind. He began to remember who he was, and who the man who was now turning to leave the apartment was.

"Sasuke!" Naruto let out in a weak shout. The raven haired man stopped and turned his face a bit- the look of pity still in his eyes.

"Wait…" said the blond softly. "You don't have to go yet…"

The raven haired man sighed and closed the door to turn to look at the blonde. "Look, Naruto…" he said slowly. "What we did…" He looked away from Naruto and rubbed the back of his head with sad eyes. Naruto's eyes tried widen at his boyfriend's sudden equivoques.

"What's wrong, Sasuke?" he asked softly. He attempted to smile- to reassure the raven haired man, but one look at his face and Naruto knew his smile had the opposite effect.

"Naruto…" Sasuke said slowly. "We weren't supposed to…" he hesitated. "I came here to..."

Naruto began to worry. "What's going on, Sasuke?" The small attempt of a smile was gone from his face and he watched as emotions of uncertainty passed through Sasuke's face.

Finally, Sasuke sighed deeply and ran his hands through his hair. He looked as if he had given up. "Naruto…" he started again, a morose expression clearly evident in his face. " I came here to break up with you."

If Naruto were the person he was before he took the shot of heroin, he would've overreacted. He would have gotten up and chased after the raven haired man before he could leave him, he would've screamed in protest and clawed at Sasuke's hands and feet until he wouldn't be able to go anywhere. But of course, Naruto did inject himself with the drug, so all he had to say was a measly, "Oh."

It was obvious from Sasuke's expression that he expected more from the blond. He expected the over reaction, the screaming, and the clawing, but he underestimated the effects of the drug. It was powerful. Powerful to change what used to be the love of your life into a distant vacant shell that couldn't even register the extent of pain he would have to go through once Sasuke was finally gone.

"Why?" Naruto's soft voice surprised Sasuke. He looked up to face the blond, and he looked away again, unable to face the hollow look in Naruto's eyes- the eyes that could no longer show emotions- the eyes that seemed to sink into his head. His lips were chap and his arms were twigs as he tried to sit up again. "Why are you leaving me, Sasuke?"

Sasuke frowned at this, his supercilious character coming back to life. "If you've been even the slightest bit alive these past few years you would've realized that I've already left you." He said bitterly. "Today, I'm just making it official."

For a fraction of a second, Sasuke could swear he saw a small flicker of emotion in the blonde's eyes. Alas, it was only for a second and it came and went too quickly for Sasuke to register which sentiment passed through the blonde. This frustrated the raven head and his frown turned into a small scowl. "I've been spending most of my time with Neji, Naruto." He said looking into the blonde's eyes. He wanted to get the response he craved. He wanted that guilt- he wanted Naruto to feel ashamed- to be sorry.

"I love him, Naruto." He said whispered. Naruto blinked and he stared at Sasuke for a while. Sasuke stared back, fists trembling at his sides. What was he saying? He didn't love Neji. He loved Naruto. That small pathetic dying blond before him. The one who was struggling to show some kind of emotion- struggling to get up and just say something. But Sasuke couldn't stay. He had to move on- he couldn't allow himself to love a dead man. He would love Neji- the guy was already head over heels in love with him. It would be easy to move on- easy to walk awa-

"Don't leave me, Sasuke." It came out in a dull whisper. It was almost inaudible, but those few words made Sasuke's heart wrench. Even without the emotion in Naruto's voice he knew the blond was trying. He cursed harshly under his breath and turned to the door. He opened it and stepped outside, he faltered for a second, to give Naruto one last look. But the blonde's eyes were already drooping and his stick like arms were trembling from so much effort to keep him up on the bed. Sasuke tore away from this and slammed the door shut behind him.

Naruto blinked, his mind still fogged.

"Sasuke?"

Chapter One**:** _Syringe_

**Oblivion**

**Yes, its me, creating the new and not updating the old! I've decided to delete my new account "Sasue"It causes too much confusion. Pray that my first account doesn't fail me! . And its so hard without internet. : P**

**I enjoy your reviews; they make me feel all warm inside.**


	2. Aftermath

**Oblivion**

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Chapter Two: _Aftermath_

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He woke up with a headache that felt like Chinese gongs and other percussions slamming against each other in a discordant harmony. He struggled to sit up; his weak arms giving in at the slightest pressure, but still he felt stronger than he did the night before.

Last night.

Naruto's heart did something irregular, as if it forgot how to skip a beat in shock or surprise. Instead of skipping, it faltered and tripped, as if falling down the stairs and hitting each step harshly and irregularly. Naruto grabbed a hold of his chest when the beating began to feel uncomfortable.

In a few moments, the uneasiness was gone, and Naruto felt the sudden thought of last night plague him again. Whatever happened last night, his heart remembered more than he did. It was pulsing faster and faster as he tried to recollect the events that happened only hours ago. Small images floated past his mind as he tried to put them in chronological order.

He came into his apartment with Sasuke…He remembered Sasuke deciding to come over at a very bad time- when Naruto needed his fix. He remembered contemplating on whether or not he should take the heroin in front of Sasuke or not…He took it of course.

This was the part when the images began to look a bit nebulous. He remembered floating above the room- touching the ceiling with his mind and he remembered his ability to see and be two things at once. In the back of his head Naruto vaguely remembered him grabbing Sasuke after injecting the drug. He remembered kissing him- and Sasuke kissing back.

Then his mind went into that other state of mind again. Where Sasuke wasn't there and Naruto wasn't floating anymore; he was falling. Naruto remembered what it felt like to fall. It was like a roller coaster riding backwards down steep tracks from a feet of at least three 24 story buildings high.

Falling backwards. It was both exhilarating and devastating. It was like losing a piece of yourself as you crashed down so abruptly.

Naruto remembered seeing Sasuke's face and immediately knowing his name without really knowing who he was. He remembered Sasuke's look of uncertainly when he equivocally stated that he was breaking up with him.

Naruto blinked. He had to rewind for a moment. He remembered Sasuke's look of uncertainty when he equivocally stated that he was breaking up with him. The look of uncertainty when he equivocally stated that he was breaking up with him. Equivocally stated that he was breaking up with him. That he was breaking up with him. Breaking up with him. **Breaking up with him**. Breaking up with Naruto.

'I came here to break up with you, Naruto'

Naruto screamed. No, it was more like a strangled cry. The cobwebbed wheels that wired his brain together began to churn and he found himself jumping off his bed, and pulling up his pants- not bothering to look for his underwear. He grabbed a tattered shirt that lay on the floor, pulled on miss matching striped socks and ran out of his apartment. He didn't need to lock it- a thief wouldn't find anything of value in his home.

As Naruto dashed down the stairs of his crummy apartment building, not really wanting to take a chance with the elevator, he bumped into an old man. He muttered an apology before turning to run but he stopped when he realized who the man was.

"You again?" sneered the old man. "When the hell are you gonna pay the fucking rent?!"

Naruto rolled his eyes and began to run down the stairs again. He could still hear the man cursing down at him five flights away. Finally, after fourteen floors, he made it to the entry door of the apartment and ran out.

He could make it to Sasuke's cozy crib in five minutes, but if he ran he could make it there in two. With that in mind he ran towards the building. Half way to Sasuke's apartment, his heart finally gave in and it was beating so fast that Naruto couldn't hear anything but it's pained pulses in his ears for an entire minute. So he trudged to Sasuke's apartment building- unable to run anymore.

A white and obviously higher rent than Naruto's little shack of a home came into view, with it's clear walls and windows without the mandatory bars, and it's waxed tiled floors. Even the staircases were clean: no sign of graffiti, and no smell of piss or feces. He would have to fix that some time.

When he knocked on Sasuke's door, which was conveniently located on the second floor, he was out of breath with his sight still hazy from the run. With a fogged and discordant mind he half expected Neji to come through the door. Anger flared past Naruto's nostrils and he found himself clenching his hands into a fist, ready to punch the long haired man if he answered the door.

His fists unclenched immediately however, when a shirtless Uchiha opened the door instead.

"Sasuke!" cried Naruto reaching to embrace him. Sasuke hesitated under Naruto's touch and he let his arms hang at his sides- refusing to hug the blonde.

"I'm so sorry about last night- I-I'm sorry I let you see me that way. I swear I'll never-!" Naruto began to talk profusely into Sasuke's chest- non stop until Sasuke pushed the blonde away from him and covered his mouth with his hand. Naruto looked into Sasuke's eyes with a questioning look. Sasuke looked away from them and sighed deeply.

"You shouldn't be here, Naruto." Sasuke said with a pained expression. "You have to leave before-."

"Sasuke, I'm really sorry." said Naruto cutting the raven haired man off. "If you need some time before you can see me again" Naruto started to say as he tried to look into Sasuke's eyes, "I can come another time-?"

"I'm moving into Neji's condo tomorrow afternoon. " Sasuke said softly.

Naruto blinked. "What?"

Sasuke sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Look, Naruto, I already made my decision. You and I…we're…its over…We just can't…" Sasuke trailed off and dared to look at Naruto. There was a long pause between the two, and Naruto's mouth began to open and close. Finally, he spoke.

"You're really breaking up with me, Sasuke?" Naruto breathed incredulously.

Sasuke groaned when he saw tears form at the corner of Naruto's eyes. "Please, Naruto….don't make this harder than it already is…"

"You're leaving me, Sasuke?" Naruto asked again, his voiced abnormally high pitched. "No…you can't- I can't- I can't live without you, I-"

"You can live without me, Naruto. What you can't live without is that shit you inject into your system. " Sasuke spat suddenly.

Naruto's eyes widened. "That's not true!" he chocked out. "I love you m-more th-than the drugs- I can stop taking them! I'll stop if you'll-!"

"Naruto, you and I both know that that's impossible."

Naruto's silent tears turned into soft sobs and he put a hand to his mouth, looking up at Sasuke with pained eyes and a grimace forming in his features as a result of his incontrollable sobs. Sasuke had to hold on to the blond as he let himself sink to the floor with his hands covering his face.

"You know what made me make up my mind about this, Naruto?" asked Sasuke while he held on to Naruto's shoulders with a painful grip. "I got a call the other day. You're mutt of a friend, Kiba…they found him in my brother's apartment dead." He said bitterly. "And what do you think he died of, Naruto?" he asked the blonde in a harsh murmur, still holding on to his shoulders. "He died of an overdose, Naruto- a fucking overdose! And now my brothers under suspicion because your bastard of a friend didn't have the decency to take the meth at his own fucking hou- !"

"I can change!!" Naruto suddenly shouted, hands flying out of his hands to reveal red eyes that seemed to sink into their sockets, too far gone to realize the seriousness of the death of a friend. Sasuke looked away from the sight, and let go of Naruto's shoulders.

"You had your chance to beg me to stay, Naruto." Sasuke said with regret thick in his voice. "Before, I could even talk to you, yesterday, you were already saying how much you needed it- wanted it- And then you injected that shit in front of me!" Sasuke's voice became harsher and harsher with every word.

"You have absolutely no idea how…" he struggled to find the words, "…disgusted I was!" Sasuke finally exclaimed. "And only after you took the drugs did you even look at me- and you know what you said?"

Naruto shook his head in a jerking motion as he listened to a more accurate description of what happened last night.

"You said that I should try it sometime." Sasuke said it as if he still couldn't believe it.

Naruto shook his head no again and again. "S-Sasuke, I'm so so-orry, I-!" his voice broke as he spoke.

Sasuke held a hand to stop him. "You have to go now, Naruto." He said looking towards the back of the room. "I told Neji that you wouldn't bother us anymore- Please don't make me have to take that back-"

"The hell I won't bother you!!" he shouted with his broken voice. "You keep saying you gave me a chance and that you loved in the past- but that's fucking bullshit!!" he screamed. "If you really did mean those things than you wouldn't be dumping- not like you are now-"

"You don't know what the hell you're talking about!!" Sasuke shouted back. "I know you can't realize anything with that shit in your system, but I did give you many chances to change before this- I stayed with you three years more than I should have!!!" Sasuke said pointing an accusing finger at the blonde. "Even when I stopped coming over, and even when I would leave you for months at a time, you never said anything; you were always too fucking busy getting fucking high with those bastards you call friends- who, I might add, are all fucking dead now!!"

Naruto cringed when Sasuke shouted so loudly in his face, but it only amplified his anger. "You think I'm fucking stupid, Sasuke??! Well, I'm not! I knew you were always messing around with Neji when you were gone- I knew that you were falling in love with him- I didn't say anything because I thought you were smarter than that, Sasuke! I thought you knew that Neji's a fucking slut-!!"

Naruto was cut off when Sasuke pushed him against the wall outside of his apartment with brute force. Naruto made a gasping sound as the wind was knocked out of him when his back hit the wall. He heard Sasuke mutter a curse and he pulled away from the blonde.

"Just get out of here, Naruto." He spat- obviously trying to get a hold of his anger.

"No!!" screamed Naruto defiantly. "You're just looking for an excuse to be with Neji-!!!"

Naruto yelped when Sasuke's fist came crashing against the wall beside his face. "Leave now, before I hurt you, Naruto." Sasuke said through gritted teeth.

Naruto shook his head helplessly. "Please, Sasuke, just give me another chance-!"

"GET OUT!!!" Sasuke shouted.

"What the hell is going on?" said a voice coming from inside of Sasuke's apartment. Over Sasuke's shoulder, Naruto could see Neji coming out of a room, pulling a shirt on. Naruto's eyes widened when he saw this and looked into Sasuke's eyes in disbelief.

"Sasuke?"

"It's nothing, Neji." Sasuke pushed himself off the wall and whipped around to face the long haired man. A wave of understanding washed through Neji's face when he saw Naruto outside the apartment.

He smiled at the blonde. "Naruto. How nice to see you, again." He said with that same all knowing smile- a smug smile.

Naruto glared. "Go fuck yourself, Neji."

Neji's smile never faltered. Sasuke turned to face the blonde again. "Naruto, I won't have you saying things like that to my boyfriend." He spat to the blonde.

Naruto glared at Sasuke. "I can say anything I want to a dirty whore." He said under his breath.

"God damn it, Naruto!!" Sasuke shouted as he turned back to face the blonde. "You know what?" he said vehemently, with his eyes and lips only centimeters from Naruto as he back him up against the wall again. "I'd rather fuck a dirty, disgusting, homeless dog than mess with the likes of you, Naruto." He spat in his face.

Naruto stood there dumbfounded as Sasuke whipped away from him again and entered his apartment. "It's over between us, Naruto." Sasuke said with his back to the door and in a split second the door was slammed shut in the blonde's face.

Naruto put a hand over his mouth to muffle the sob that escaped his lips. He sunk to the ground in front of Sasuke's door, his head down cast, and his eyes spilling with tears. He jumped when he heard Sasuke's angry battle cry from inside and the smashing of glass against a wall.

Right now Naruto felt like that glass. Broken, torn, and in pieces. He felt like his heart was smashed into two pieces, and then those two pieces were smashed in two pieces, and than those eight pieces were smashed into more pieces, and those small pieces were smashed into additional pieces, and now all he had was microscopic heart dust floating in his chest*. He grabbed a fist full of his dirty shirt that covered the chest where his heart was and he gagged as he tried to stand up from the floor. His heart was beating fast, and his head was a haze of memories. Memories with Sasuke- all useless and meaningless now.

Naruto staggered towards the stairwell of Sasuke's apartment, and when he reached the door he gagged again, and again, and again until he stumbled into the wall and vomited. The substance that came out scorched his throat and he began to cough violently. When he finished, he looked down at the vomit he managed to produce. It wasn't very much- a white-ish, orange-ish color with huge blobs of red that decorated and mixed in with it.

Naruto spit out the remains of the liquid on his tongue and wiped his mouth with his already dirty sleeve. He smirked inwardly when he realized the mess he made on Sasuke's too perfect apartment building and wished he at least ate something so he could defecate on the property as well. His bitter humor was stopped short, however, when he realized that Sasuke would not be a residence of this building by tomorrow afternoon. No, he would be living with that slutty bastard from hell Neji.

Naruto scowled as he stumbled down the stairs. He wouldn't let him have Sasuke. He'd kill Sasuke before he let anyone, especially Neji, have him.

When he staggered outside he realized how blindingly bright it was. The heart dust began to irritate his chest again and he wondered if he would make it to his apartment before he collapsed on the sidewalk in pain. Not that he cared about being embarrassed; he collapsed in public places many times before, it was just the pain he would get when he finally woke up that bothered him. He would usually fall on is head and that resulted in a headache, he'd stay in an awkward position for about five hours straight and that would result in a back ache, and he never really got a full rest- He was always woken up by a some guy or girl kicking him out of the way, or if he collapsed in an ally a cat would lick his face, or a thug would beat him awake out of boredom or just to see if he was alive, and that would result in aches and pains all over his body and he just didn't want to deal with all of that right now. Not when his chest was already aching as bad as it was.

So, Naruto trudged to his apartment, ignoring the looks of the pedestrians as they walked passed him, ignored the pointing and laughter from the little kids who were on top of their parents shoulders or holding the hands of their older siblings with their huge poofy jackets and their ridiculous winter hats.

It was then that Naruto noticed the weather. It was freezing. Apparently, his body knew he was cold before he did, so it was only now that he realized that his teeth were chattering and his arms were wrapped around himself in a futile attempt to keep warm. He must've looked like a wandering homeless man to all those people that walked by.

Naruto wondered how he made it to Sasuke's apartment without feeling the cold. Maybe his brain was too slow now. Maybe because of 'that shit [he] injected into [himself]'- as Sasuke would say, and now he was officially a retard with a mentally challenged brain which was a few steps behind his body.

Or it was just the running that heated him up while he ran towards Sasuke's apartment, with his mind fogged with the thoughts of what happened the night before. That seemed more appropriate.

Naruto reached his apartment before he realized he arrived. Again- body worked before his brain did. When he entered his apartment door he stumbled inside and collapsed on his bed.

It was a miniscule one room apartment- you saw the bedroom as soon as you entered the door, and the fridge and stove were somewhere in a corner of the room, which, never worked, even before Naruto got the apartment.

There was no bathroom- he had to go down the hall to use the 'public' facility to brush his teeth, shower or 'use' the toilet, and that was alright since he rarely did any of those things. Not to mention that he was always too lazy to use the restrooms down the hall, so, unless he had to defecate, he would pee from his window, and that was fine too since he rarely had to go anyway.

Naruto moaned into his raggedy pillow, grabbing it with chipped fingernails as he pretended that it was Sasuke. That bastard, leaving Naruto like that. Gradually, Naruto's moans turned into soft sobs, of which, turned into screams of frustration. He rolled over when he felt like he was going to suffocate in his pillow and lazily wiped snot off the side of his nose.

Again he heart dust fluttered irritatingly in his chest and he felt something in his stomach quench. He was going to throw up again. He glared at his ceiling and wondered where the hell the vomit was coming from. He didn't anything remotely substantial for weeks.

Naruto didn't think he could sob so violently, his body racking as he let out yet another gasping cry, and his eyes shut tightly as the pain grew in his chest which was now being accompanied by a headache because of his constant sobs.

Naruto wrapped his arms around him and got into a fetal position, curling up into a ball on his scrawny little bed and simply shook there for several minutes.

It was then that the true extent of the events that occurred today dawned on Naruto. The love of his life for six years broke up with him. Broke up with him for that long haired slut from hell pale eyed freak Neji no less. One his best friends was dead. Dead.

Poor, poor Kiba. He must've overdosed on purpose. Ever since his dog died…he never really was the same anymore…Not to mention that Kiba was the one who did all the transactions for Naruto. If you wanted anything- anything at all, Kiba was the one to get it for you. Sometimes he didn't even let Naruto pay, they were such good pals.

God. Look at him. His best friend was dead and all he could worry about was not getting the drugs he needed. He was such a monster. Sasuke was right. He wasn't the same anymore- a different Naruto- A useless little junky that was finally and forever would be truly alone.

Naruto fell into a deep depression.

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A/N- Next Chapter I'll be introducing (drum roll)- Gaara the apathetic police officer!! : ) read, review, flame, favorite, alert?


	3. Changing, Going Once

**Oblivion**

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Chapter Three: _Change pt. One_

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Naruto woke up with a jolt. As if an alarm clock startled him into wake with it's incessant and annoying ringing and wouldn't stop even if you pressed the stop button, so out of frustration you had no choice but to pick it up and smash it against a wall only to discover that it's still ringing- But that's because it's not really an alarm clock that's making the sound- it's a ringing in your head and you can't stop it because your head doesn't have a snooze button so you can't help but to bang your head against the head board on your bed so you could fall unconscious and sleep again.

That's how Naruto felt. Like he was at a party the night before, danced right in front of the speakers and now all he could hear was a constant beeping in his ears- Sort of like a tea pot when it whistled as the water boiled- only louder and Naruto couldn't shut off the fire to make it stop.

Naruto needed a fix. Right away. Anything- anything at all. He'd smoke a cigarette if he had to –and he hated those things (how ironic), if it would make him come out of the depression that loomed over him like a dark cloud.

_Depression_. That was _one_big word he knew. If only he didn't drop out of high school with the rest of the gang. He should've stayed- then maybe Sasuke would think he had the slightest bit of chance he could make in with the blonde. Maybe if he was smart like Neji then Sasuke would like him more- maybe if he had long dark hair and mysterious eyes then maybe Sasuke would-

Naruto scowled. When the hell did he become such a bitch? Look at him- Comparing himself to that bastard Neji. He'd rather be as retarded as he was before he would turn into the ass hole Neji was.

He yanked himself out of his fetal position and sat up on his bed. Screw the migraine, the uncomfortable feeling in his chest, the quench in his stomach and the feeling of emptiness that stole him of his usual careless and oblivious self. He would find someone- anyone to give him something- anything. He couldn't afford the good stuff- not for a while. He'd have to settle for crack- maybe even a cigarette, and he _hated_ those things.

He scrambled off his bed and decided he should clean up a bit before he went out again; make himself more presentable for the dealers he was about to get mixed in with. Naruto's idea of cleaning up was a change of clothing. He raided his small dresser for anything he didn't wear in a long time. He found a dark long sleeved shirt with some band name scribbled on it, and faded black jeans cut just below the knee. He wore the same miss matching striped socks (he never took them off) and a pair of tattered white sneakers that had holes on the soles and torn laces.

He wouldn't say he was 'presentable', especially to all those 'normal' people that he would see outside, but this clothing was the best he could do with his fogged mind and a brain that was craving anything that would get him high.

He stepped out with a feeble leather jacket he stole from a department store ages ago. It was much colder than the last time Naruto was out and he realized he still didn't know what time of day it was. It was fairly dark and not many people were out. Then again, not many people could afford or take the risk to be out in such a neighborhood as this- especially when it was so dark. So early morning or late evening, Naruto still couldn't tell.

Naruto walked to the first place he knew where there would be a dealer. _The Phone Booth_, a club only fifteen minutes away from his apartment building that was only attended by transvestites and drama queens, all of which were either once men or men dressed as women. It was owned by Zabusa (the dealer) and his 'wife' Haku. The 'tranny's' were usually Haku's company, while the drama queens were Zabusa's company (a strange fetish).

Naruto walked into the club and was happy to see it already filled with people. He was greeted with the usual smell of alcohol and other illegal substances.

He saw Haku almost right away, who seemed out of place in the large crowd with his white kimono and his bulging stomach.

"Naruto!" he cried as he pushed his way through a crowd of men. He found his way through and leaped to give Naruto a hug. Naruto was taller than Haku now- and this pleased Naruto since he had been so much shorter when they just met.

"You've really let yourself go, Haku…" Naruto said as he eyed Haku's stomach warily.

Haku laid a hand on his belly and with his soft chiming laugh he said, "It finally worked this time…Although Zabusa's not happy about it at all…"

Naruto raised an eyebrow. "Why wouldn't he be?"

Haku gave him a small smile. "Well…after I had the …well….'change' ," he said gesturing awkwardly between his legs. "…he hasn't been…treating me very well…" Haku looked away for a moment.

"Is it his?" Naruto asked curious.

"What? The baby?- Of course!…" he said with an unequivocal look. "I wouldn't have it any other way…"

Naruto nodded his head slowly. He knew the past Haku had with Zabusa. He was an abusive man- a cruel man. His eyes widened a bit when he saw the said man in the distance. Zabusa was staring at Naruto with those eyes of his. Small beady eyes that could express no other emotion other than anger. Zabusa nodded curtly at the blonde when he caught his attention and turned walk towards a room in the back of the club.

Naruto understood. "Haku…if you'd excuse me…" Naruto started to say. Haku nodded his head having seen the whole thing.

"I'll walk with you." He said with a smile.

The back room was simple and small with boxes piled on top of the other and foreign names printed on them. It didn't take a genius to know what was in those boxes.

"What'll it be this time, Naruto?" Zabusa asked politely, eyeing Naruto with those eyes again. Naruto shivered under his gaze- or was it just the cold? He couldn't tell. Either way he was uncomfortable.

"The cheapest you've got." Naruto finally answered. Then he added quickly, "I don't have the money with me right now- So I'll-."

"No money, huh…" Zabusa said with a dark chuckle. He looked at Naruto again with those eyes of his. He eyed the blonde up and down and seemed to look thoughtful.

"I'll tell you what, Blondie," he said rolling the nick name on his tongue so it came out like a hiss. "You let me screw you right here, right now, and I'll give you the best I've got. Top notch crystal. Just got a batch from Bangladesh this morning."

_Ah_, Naruto thought lamely. So that's how it was. No wonder the guy was staring at him like that…and all those other times he would come here with Kiba... He didn't _want_to have sex with Zabusa. He didn't want to have sex with _anyone_. But he_ did_want that meth. Everyone knew that Bangladesh sent the best crystal- but he never tried it. God how he needed something like that right now. How long would it take to make him forget all that happened today? How high would he soar until he could finally get rid of the depression that was like boulders on his shoulders? He wanted to find out.

He was about to accept the offer when he remembered who was in the room with them. "Haku…" he said slowly, turning the face the long haired man. Haku shook his head with a sad apologetic smile and turned away. "It's alright." He said while walking out the door and closing it behind him.

Zabusa chuckled again and with his finger called Naruto to him. Naruto obliged, not really knowing what else he would do. He never had to have sex with someone in order to get any form of drug. So this was a first for him. Lately, Naruto's sex drive was at a minimal. He thought the drugs were better than sex- In fact, yesterday was the first time in months that he had sex with someone- and the time before that was another month long period apart. And all of them were with the same person: Sasuke.

Naruto put his head downcast as he walked towards Zabusa. Without any hesitation, he grabbed the waist band of his pants and pulled them down.

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**..:Oblivion:.**

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Naruto stumbled out of the club and heaved as he threw up just outside the door. The sun was just rising over the horizon so it was an eerie gray color outside. Zabusa kept his end of the deal- and with a price. Naruto didn't think he would be walking very much anywhere after…well…_that. _He wondered mindlessly if crystal methamphetamine was worth bending over a damn _box_ while a _monster_ thrust into you savagely.

Naruto wasted no time inhaling the thing- He had an entire bowl's worth in his pocket, and the thought of it excited him. He wanted to take the entire thing when he went home. He wanted to engulf the entire bag and spasm in pleasure until he blacked out…Possibly forever.

In his far off state Naruto giggled. What a wonderful way to off himself. With all the crap he went through it didn't seem like a bad idea at all- Why didn't he think of this before?! It wasn't like anyone was going to stop him. It wasn't like anyone _wanted _to. If he killed himself, he wouldn't have to worry about being jealous of Sasuke and Neji. If he offed himself, he would no longer feel that twist in his chest that made him gasp in pain and racked his body with sobs.

Naruto took a deep breath. He should have waited until after he got home to get high. But it wasn't his fault. Zabusa had boxes of it, and he could help inhale s few particles that managed to invade his breathing space.

With all the strength he could muster he made his way towards his apartment, swaying from side to side- unable to walk in a straight line. As he marched, he became familiar with Sasuke's neighborhood. Or at least- what used to be his neighborhood. The thought of Sasuke and the meth in his system didn't mix well, and he found himself clutching his chest again. A sob made his way through his mouth and he felt the urge to vomit again.

Sasuke's apartment came into view. Naruto let his legs lead him towards the apartment building, not really knowing what he planned on doing. He went into the building slowly. He knew he must have looked terrible at the moment. Sasuke always hated his sense of style- he always told him what to wear whenever they were going to a public place together.

Once again the thought of Sasuke made Naruto shut his eyes tightly and reach for the wall. It was a _really_ bad idea to get high before he went home. What the hell was he doing inside Sasuke's apartment building? He had to go home- and fast.

But wait. Surely Sasuke still lived in his apartment. Surely, now that the events of the last they met passed, they could talk to each other again. Maybe….maybe Sasuke would forgive him. Yes. He would forgive him. Despite all that he did, Naruto knew the raven haired man harbored at least a few feelings towards him. With that thought in mind Naruto set up the stairs. Sasuke only lived on the second floor, but there were four flights of stairs between each floor. On the second flight he stopped. If Sasuke was there…Neji would be too.

A sudden wave of anger pulsated through Naruto and he wondered if it was the crystal's doing. With a small cry he banged his fist against the wall. Damn that Neji! He was always in the way- even when they were younger, he always tried his best to make Naruto's life miserable- And now, after all these years the little whore came back and took what was most precious to him: _His _Sasuke. Naruto breathed heavily. He hated, hated _hated _that man. Always so perfect, always so beautiful, always so...so...there. Always in the way of everything!

Naruto growled and banged against the wall again, his puny fists cracking as they protested. He couldn't go up there. Not to Sasuke's apartment. He'd hurt someone if he saw Neji again. Then again he was small and puny- He would probably be the one getting hurt. Naruto let out another frustrated cry and let himself collapse in a corner against the staircase.

His body shook. Withdrawal? No. Too early for that. It was just the cold...and maybe the sobs that were now racking through his body. Shit, he needed something. He needed something _now. _He fumbled in his pockets for the bag Zabusa gave him. Most of the hard particles were crushed. It could have easily passed for expired powdered milk. Naruto smiled at the thought before he put his nose into the Ziploc and inhaled deeply. It was the wrong way to do it- What with too many particles invading his nose, but Naruto didn't care. He wanted to overdose right here on the staircase. Then Sasuke would find him, and feel sorry for leaving him, he would cry before his corpse and dump Neji, then he would carry Naruto to the place where they first met and make love to his dead body, then he would off himself with the rest of the meth.

_Christ_ the crystal worked fast, Naruto thought with a chuckle. Already he felt light, as if all of his wishful thinking would undoubtedly happen, as if he was actually dying in peace. His body shook again, and it was as if his mind flipped into another dimension. Who was he kidding? No one would find him here. He would die alone, he would die lonely, he would die on meth, and no one would give a damn. He wouldn't be on the news, Sasuke wouldn't feel sorry, his grandmother would be happy to see him gone, Neji would laugh his ass off, and he...well he was going to hell.

Naruto chuckled bitterly. He dropped the bag onto the floor. Small little waves of dust floated onto the floor, but most of it stayed in the bag. He put his hands to his face and let out a strangled cry. He was surprised when a bark replied to his cry. Even more surprised when a black dog came down the stairs and barked at him again. It was small, and its fur was so smooth and silky looking. Naruto frowned. It reminded him too much of the hair that was on Neji's head. That bastard.

He kicked the dog away from him. It yelped and skidded across the floor only to get up and stand before Naruto again. Naruto growled and kicked it once more, hating the fact that, just like Neji, the stupid dog wouldn't leave him alone and was always in the damn way. Even when the dog stayed on the ground Naruto stood up and kicked it again, hard. He stomped on its leg, and nudged its sides until it ceased to whimper and stopped moving. The only sounds Naruto could hear were his painful gasps as he stared down at the dog with wide eyes. That's right. A dog. It was just a dog. And he killed it. Naruto chocked on a sob. He_ killed_ it. He put his hand over his mouth and grimaced, not in pain, but at himself. How could he? What the hell was wrong with him?!

Footsteps alerted Naruto. Someone was descending down the staircase. Naruto frowned. He didn't care what the person saw. It didn't matter anymore. The footsteps came closer and closer until Naruto could hear them stop right behind him, most likely on the last step. There was no sound of surprise, not even an inward gasp. It was silent and Naruto stood with his back to the intruder, staring at the dog on the ground before him. After several moments he took a step back and turned to look at the person who stood behind him.

Naruto almost laughed at his fate, in fact, Naruto would've laughed if those eyes staring back at him weren't so damn penetrating. The blonde didn't even flinch when he saw the uniform.

It was a police man.

The usually bulky uniform wasn't properly on the man. He had his jacket wide open, revealing a tight dark T- Shirt underneath, and his police hat wasn't on his head, but on the hook of his pants that held the gun and the long black bar police men usually carried. Off duty, Naruto thought, and it was then that he became truly aware of his surroundings. A dead dog, blood smeared on his shirt, a puddle of crystal methamphetamine on the floor.

Well, shit.

Despite his thoughts, Naruto's face remained the same- Bitter, caustic, as if someone had betrayed him, as if the world was going against him and this was the only way he could retaliate.

"Well...?" he started with an accusing voice. "Aren't you going to arrest me?"

The man in front of him didn't even blink. His blank stare bore into Naruto's eyes. He didn't even seem to notice the surroundings around him. He took a step towards the blonde and Naruto tensed.

"No."

The police man began to walk again, pass Naruto, the dog, and the meth. Naruto stared at the retreating back of the man with his fists clenching at his sides. What was that he felt in his chest? Relief? No, couldn't be. Was he actually glad he wasn't going to spend the rest of his life rotting in a jail cell? He deserved it, and so much more.

Why did the man let him go? Was he tricking him into believing he was safe, so he could call in for back up? The penetrating and blank stare of the man flashed through Naruto's mind and he realized that it couldn't be it. Such uncaring eyes...the policeman would probably forget what he saw before the end of the day.

Naruto shivered. What the hell brought him here? To this place? In that bastard's apartment building with his bastard boyfriend?

He had to get out of here. He had to get out of here and fast. Forget the meth. No, no more- it made him do bad things. He had to get out of there. Get out before the police man came back, get out before Sasuke saw him like this, get out before Sasuke found out that he was desperate enough to come back to his place drunk and confused. He had to get out- He had to leave- he had to- he had to-

Naruto was breathing hard, his eyes were blurred and his head hurt. Where were the stairs? Where were the damn stairs!?

Come on, Naruto- Get a hold of yourself. The stairs...they're...they're right there.

Slowly, ever so slowly, Naruto walked towards the staircase, careful not to trip on his own feet. He only made it down two steps when he paused. He looked up, eyes wide and surprised. He walked up the stairs and stood in front of the dark mess. He looked torn, as if he didn't know what to do. Should he clean it up? Should he leave it there? Should he-

He made up his mind when the dog started to whimper again.

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I updated! Dance with me! Please tell me what you think about this chapter! I'm sorry if you wanted to see more of Gaara, but I don't want to rush this story...Please Review, Favorite, Alert! : )


	4. Changing, Going Twice

_A/N Sorry about the whole, deletion thing, but I accidently deleted the chapter instead of replacing it with the revised version. SO...yeah. Here it is. Hope you enjoy._

**Oblivion**

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Chapter Three: _Change pt. Two_

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_He was five years old. He was holding on to someone's hand. A woman. She stood tall, bold- strong. Her skin was lightly tanned, her lips were full and pink. She was beautiful. His eyes were bright dashing blue, his hair a shiny blonde. He was beautiful. Hand in hand, smile to smile. They were perfect. They were fake._

_-_

Naruto woke up. No…wait. He was already awake. Daydreaming, it seemed. He stood in front of the mirror in the public bathroom down the hall. He wasn't high…only…daydreaming- With his eyes open and staring at the mirror. Funny, he hadn't had one of those dreams since…It's been a long time. What caused it?

Naruto blinked. Then he squinted. Maybe it was the reflection he saw before him? When did he become so…? He stopped at mid thought and touched the sharp bone that jutted against his cheek. He traced two fingers underneath a sunken eye. He ran a hand through mess disheveled hair. He frowned. His friends used to tell him that they could spot him a mile away because of his bright, yellow, unruly hair. The unruly part was still present, yes, but the once wild locks now hung limply across his forehead and was the color of his almost deathly pale skin. God's, his hair was _white_.

Naruto ran a hand through his thin lips. He looked awful. Christ, he looked awful.

The blonde (platinum) grimaced at his reflection. No wonder Sasuke left him, he thought bitterly. He exited the bathroom with a the pail of water he came for and stepped back into his room. It was a bit cold. He shivered slightly. He only wore the boxers he had been wearing for the past few days, and a white T- shirt that hung low passed his waist. It was wrinkled, but not dirty.

Ever so gently, he lifted the dark dog from the floor and put it on his bed. It began to tremble_._ He put the pail of water in front of the dog and waited, crossed legged, in front of it.

It had only been a few days since the episode. He brought home the whimpering dog, cradling it inside his jacket while it bled all over the place. It was made worse when he realized that the sun was coming up, revealing the mess the dog made, and the gasps of the people on the street. He couldn't run though- Not when every step made the dog howl in pain.

When it opened its eyes a few hours later inside Naruto's apartment, the first thing it did was growl as Naruto unskillfully dabbed a paper towel at his wounds. The wounds he caused. He shivered. Naruto found it morbidly amusing that although the dog growled viciously at him, it could do nothing- Only bare its teeth at the blonde.

It took a few stolen paper towels from the public bathroom to finally clean up the blood. It seemed to have stopped bleeding through the wounds after Naruto applied pressure on it with his hand. He brought the dog to the bathroom on the second day and washed him. The dog yelped and squealed as Naruto ran his hands through the wounds with the shower head and warm water. He couldn't use soap yet; he knew how much that could hurt.

When he brought the dog back to dry, it stopped growling at Naruto. Instead it let Naruto touch him, but always trembled when the blonde did. As if Naruto's touch hurt him, as if the hate he felt for the blonde dwindled into pure fear.

Naruto did not have bandages, but he had some used sheets that he used to wrap around the dog. He had to cut it first though,.

So now here they were, on the bed as Naruto waited for the dog to drink the water. This was the blonde's fifth attempt to nourish it, all of which the dog eyes the water warily and refused to touch it.

It was about trust, Naruto realized. How could the dog accept anything from him after what he did? Naruto put his face it his hands and sighed. He was tired. Sad, and tired. But he couldn't sleep. Not after what he did. He didn't deserve it. He didn't deserve anything. For now, all he wanted to do was take care of the dog, feed it, care to its wounds, then take it to a shelter where it could find a good owner. A better owner. Someone who wouldn't beat it up. Naruto let out a shaky sigh and closed his eyes. He made a small surprised sound when he heard the familiar sound of tongue lapping water. He looked up slowly to find the animal craning its neck awkwardly without hurting his injuries as its long tongue dipped into the bowl.

Naruto smiled. It was about trust. And this dog…did it trust him? Which animal was it that was said to have excellent memory? Naruto hoped it was the dog, because that would mean that he was forgiven.

With a smile curling his thin lips, he shifted slowly towards the canine and tilted the bowl so it could have better access. It began lapping greedily, using its uninjured paw to tilt the bowl even more. Naruto dared to inch closer to the dog and with his free hand patted the dogs head. The dog flinched violently and paused in its drinking. Naruto retreated quickly and settled for tilting the bowl into place. The dog did not attempt to drink from the bowl again. Instead it shied from Naruto and trembled, watching Naruto's hand warily.

Naruto sighed. It didn't trust him. He wondered if it ever would. It drank water- that was good. But Naruto longed to touch it, play with it. Befriend it. But that wasn't happening anytime soon- so the least he could do was nurture it.

That was when something dawned on Naruto. Food. The dog needed food. The way the dog was eyeing Naruto right now made him think that it wasn't trust that made the dog drink the water- it was desperation- A drastic measure to satisfy its quenching thirst.

Naruto tensed. Three days, it has been. His stomach didn't work properly anymore, but there was a time when his belly would ache like a bastard when he didn't eat anything for more than five hours. And it had been three days. Three. Dogs had smaller stomachs. Bigger appetites? He didn't know. What he did know, was that he had to give the poor thing some food before it died of hunger.

But…he had no money. How much was dog food? He sighed. Surely there would be some small can he could purchase for two dollars from some corner store. He made up his mind and stood up from the bed, ignoring the even stronger flinch that emitted from the canine. Naruto decided that what he wore the day before was fine to go out with: A dark tank top and another pair of dark jeans that reached several inches above his ankle. He still wore those bright colored miss matched socks. He put on his favorite tattered white sneakers and headed for the door. This time he locked it. For once, Naruto had something valuable that could be taken away. An animal.

He smiled at that.

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**.:Oblivion:.** _(A/N: Please try to read the letters that are stuck together (ex. ilovereviews). And ignore grammar mistakes towards the end- They are intentional.)_

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In the beginning- before Naruto's skin became pasty, before the blotches of red on his face that indicated that he was alive disappeared from his face, before his legs were to skinny to carry him around, before his rib cage protruded through even his darkest clothes, and before he looked like the reaper himself walking down the sidewalk, it was fairly easy to get money. All he had to do was open his eyes real wide and let them water as he extended his hand to passer by's. His eyes no longer held the brightness that people used to give in to, his cheeks weren't bubbly as he smiled at them. He was a drop out now. Obsolete.

He couldn't blame them- how could he? Even he had to turn from his reflection. He was ugly. No, he was _hideous_. The very meaning behind broken mirrors. Naruto sighed and counted the contents in his pocket. He had forty three cents. He found a quarter on the floor and an old woman was generous enough to give him some change. Naruto checked how much a can of dog food would cost- $1. 69- Close to his two dollar estimation.

By 10:30 in the morning, Naruto was exhausted. It had been two and a half hours and he managed to accumulate five dollars. Now, instead of a can, he could by the box of dog food he saw in the store.

He entered the corner store he entered a few hours before and went to the aisle that had the dog food. He frowned when he realized that he box he wanted was on such a high shelf. He reached for it- failed miserably, and turned to see if any of the employees were there to help him. There were none. With an aggravated sigh he shifted to his toes and reached towards the box. He was only a few centimeters away- just a few. Grunting he tried to stretch his fingers as far as possible, but still couldn't get to the box. He was about to give up when a pale hand reached for the box from behind him and gave it to the blond. Surprised and still on his toes, Naruto took the box without quite turning and smiled. He stared at the label a while before turning to thank the person.

"Thank y-" When he finally turned, there was no one there. A movement caught the corner of his eye and he turned to see a blur of red disappear behind an aisle. Naruto blinked before he shrugged his shoulders and walked in the direction of the cashier. He took his time walking over there, and he eyes all the pretty cereal boxes, and the colorful advertisement. As he neared the cashier he was that there was a small line- only two people. The first person was retrieving his bags and turning to leave and the second moved up with a box of cigarette's and handed it to the man behind the counter.

Naruto blinked and his hands tightened around the box of dog food.

Bright red hair... pale skin- and uniform.

It was that man.

Naruto's eyes widened when the tall red head shifted to look at him. The blonde felt vulnerable standing there with only the box in front of him. The red head shifted his eyes away casually, as if the blonde wasn't worth his time, paid for the cigarette's and exited the store.

Naruto let out a long breath he hadn't realized he was holding. His body loosened- he didn't realized when it became tense. With a shaky sigh he stepped up in front of the cashier and put the dog food on the counter.

"Well, well, well." Said a hoarse voice. Naruto looked up to find a big hairy man, wearing a dirty shirt with tobacco in his mouth. Naruto's loosened body tensed up again.

Shit.

How could he have forgotten that this was the store that he used to steal from all the time?! With a shaky smile he pulled out the five dollars in change he managed to accumulate and dropped the change onto the counter.

"I have money this time- look." He said quietly. The cashier gave the mountain of change an incredulous look before he took his hand, swiped it across the counter and scattered the change all over the floor. Naruto's eyes widened and immediately he began to pick up the change.

The big man in the counter opened a door and stepped out of his position to join the blonde on the other side.

"You little brat." He said lowly before he pushed the blonde onto the ground and kicked Naruto on the side of his head. Naruto let a shrill cry and clutched his throbbing temple while curling into a fetal position on the floor. The customers still inside the small store gasped and watched as the cashier growled down at the blonde. The cashier spit at Naruto's feet before he kicked again- this time at Naruto's stomach. Naruto couldn't even scream as the wind was knocked out of him.

"What hell are you doing?" said a woman from behind the blonde. "He's just a boy!!"

The fat man growled and turned to the woman. "Stay ou' of this, lady. Tis' kid righ' 'ere is the biggest trouble maker I eva' ad' in this here store. I'm teachin' em' a lesson before e' decides it's okay to step into my store again."

The blonde heard a quick scuffle towards the door as people exited hurriedly outside. He braced himself for another wave of pain that the large man was undoubedly having intentions of inflicting.

It didn't come.

"Uh...officer-"

"Save it."

Oh.

_Oh_.

That voice. It was _that _voice. Christ, it was _that_ voice. Emotionless, thin, uncaring- impassive, dead- _Sexy_. Naruto shivered. He was doing that alot lately. Was it cold in here?

"Aww, come on officer. I'm jus' puttin' tis' kid in his place. You ave' no idea what kinda trouble he put me through-"

"You aren't in a position to put _anyone_ in their place."

_Wonder why the smell of nicotine is so strong now..._

"Yeah, yeah, you're right- Jus' don't arrest me again- My wife'll kill me-"

"What happened?"

_Christ, that _**voice**_._

_"_The brat came back 'ere afta I tol' em' e' wasn't allowed. He came up here with that box of dog food."

_Right. The dog food. _

_"_The brat didn't pay. So I knocked em' down."

_No...no, that's...that's not how it happened._

There was a bit of shuffling. A foot pushed passed coins. "I'll pay for him."

A sound of surprise. Was it Naruto? He wondered.

"But officer, you can't possibly-"

"How much?"

A pause.

"$6. 29."

_Hmm. So he didn't have enough money after all._

More shuffling.

It took Naruto a while to notice that it was him trying to stand up. Again his body worked before his brain did. He shivered. Was it cold in here?

When he was on his feet he stumbled before he finally regained his balance. The fat man was glaring at him as his big legs carried him back to his position behind the counter. Naruto felt cardboard nudge him lightly. He turned to see a bright yellow box poking his shoulder. Dog food. He took it, his mind in a haze, and stared at it blankly.

"Thank you."

His voice? He wondered. He shivered. Was it cold in here?

"Hmm. Your welcome."

That _voice._

He absentmindedly heard light footsteps exit the store. He jumped at the sound of the door closing.

"Brat. Get out before I beat you up again."

Who said that? He shivered. Was it cold in here?

"Hey! Brat! Get the hell out before-"

"Is it cold in here?" Naruto couldn't help but ask. SOmething was nagging him in the back of his mind. It was so damn cold all of the sudden. The blonde put his arms around him self. He looked at the cashier expectantly.

_Tell me it's cold, tell me its cold, tell me, tell me, tell me-_

"What the hell are you talkin' about? It ain't cold. Now get out before I kick you out."

It wasn't cold in here? But it _was_ cold in here. It had to be. O-or else h-he-he wouldn't be sh-sh-shivering. Right? He shivered. Was it cold in here? He shivered. Was it cold in here? He shivered. Was it cold in here? He shivered was it cold in here he shivered was it cold in here shivered was it cold in here he shivered. Wasitcoldinhereheshiveredwasitcoldinhereheshiver edwasit- COLDCOLDCOLDIMSHIVERINGIMSHIVERINGIM-

Naruto spasmed- no _shivered. _Was it cold in here?! He shiver-_ No! It's not col_- COLD!!COLD!!IMSHIVERINGIMSHIVERING IMCOLDCOLDCOLDCOLDIMSHIVERINGIMSHIVERINGIMSHIVER SHIVERSHIVERSHIVER-

Holy shit.

_It's not cold, it's not cold because I'm-_

COLDCOLDIMSHIVERINGIMSHIVERING_YOUR'RE_SHIVERING

_its not cold i know its not cold because im im im im-_

YOU'RE FREEZING!!!

_These aren't the cold shakes these aren't the cold shakes these are the_

**YOUR'REFREEZING!!!!!**

_th-th-this these this this is this is this is-_

Naruto shivered. Was it cold in here? He wondered.

_Withdrawel_.

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End Chapter.

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**NOTES **(It would be nice if you read them- might clear things up a bit.)

Love the ending. Don't you? : ) In case you didn't notice, throughout the entire story there were moments where I added that Naruto was shivering, leading up to the end when he finally realizes that he's going into withdrawel (and what a withdraw it will be- tune in for the next chap). Rememeber the almost overdose Naruto had with that bag of crystal? Well let's just say it was the most he'd ever taken and his body wants more. Now.

CAPITAL LETTERS IS THE VOICE INSIDE TELLING HIM LIES. (defence mechanism, I guess) and italics is Naruto's...I don't know...common sense- The one that always knows that's happening- The body that works before the brain. How poetic.

Hey that thing I did kind of rhymed:

_The voice inside that tells him lies- _I should make a story out of that.

EXPECT ALOT OF OUR FAVORITE REDHEAD IN THE NEXT CHAPTER! Sorry that I really don't mention him alot in this chapter or the last, but I realize that most of my stories have the bad habit of making things happen too fast so...yeah...patience.

I think it was YamiTenshi that was suspicious of the fact that I describe being on drugs so expertly, lol, but let me be the first to say that I am making this up as I go along- Using my big ol' imagination. But it's nice to know that the, uh, description of being high and falling down are worthy of putting up suspicions, heh.

PLEASE REVIEW! They make me feel so0o good.

You like this story

I know you do

So review for me

And I'll update for you


	5. Sold!, To the Lovely Blonde

**Oblivion**

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**A/N: **_Italics_** is inside of Naruto's (crazy) head, and words in "**quotations**" is just regular talking. Time and scene changes will be represented by two dashes: -**

**Okay, please enjoy! And tell me if it's the **_**least**_** bit confusing in your reviews!**

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Chapter Five**:** _Change pt. Three_

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_I'm running._

_Really fast, really fast, and I can't stop can't stop running I want to but I dont want to because something's chasing me something's trying to hunt me down and i wont let it i wont let it catch me and i can't stop shaking and im still running help me help me I'm running I'm running but not fast enough too slow too slow he's gaining on me but I'll keep running I'll keep running but he's catching up he's catching he's catching up to me I don't want him to catch me he scares me- a scary blond with blue eyes and a big smile and an orange suit, tell him to leave me alone, run run running I can't stop wont stop wont stop cant stop cant cant cant beca_use it takes forever to get away from yourself.

And I need a head start.

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I think my eyes are closed but... I...I can still see him. That guy. I...I think he...I think he's here to...watch me...he's looking down at me...he's looking at me while those other guys are-...What are they doing? What are they staring at? Do I...have something on my face? I'll...I'll try to get it off-

Ah! Someone slaps my hand away. Is it him...? No...No, it's...someone else. I don't know this person...I don't know either of these people. Why do they keep touching me? Please...please stop touching me-

_stop touching me stop it stop it stop i- stop touching me i swear if you dont stop if you dont stop ill ki- stop it stop touching me-_

Haaaaa...He's looking at me again. He looking at me...with those eyes. Those eyes...they're so-

"I swear to ya officer- e' was starin' at me like e' seen a ghost, then all the sudden e' collapsed- You can ask anybody in the store- thas exactly wha 'appened!"

Talking fast. He was talking really fast. I can't keep up...Who's he talking abou-?

"Sir, we're going to need to ask you a few questions."

"What the 'ell for?! I told you I didn't do nothin'!"

Another police officer? How many are there....? I want to see...

"Guys! He's coming around. Get the stretcher!"

Haaaa...it's getting harder to breathe. Hands. They're everywhere...

"I don't think he broke his neck...but just in case..."

Uncomfortable. Something is choking me...I don't like the feeling I-

_get it off get it off what the fuck is that get it off get it off of me its strangling me cant breathe cant breathe get it off get it off get it oooofff_

_"_The door's too small- the stretcher can't get out. We'll have to carry him."

"I'll help."

_Oh_. It's him. It's that voice..._that_ voice. He said he'll help. But how can he say that...with a voice so...dead...so decaying...like listless friendliness. A kind of voice that neither invited nor rejected anything- Monotone- _lifeless._

But who's he helping?...and why were hands- Those _were_ hands, right? touching me...Haaaa...too many hands...most were warm, but still so _foreign..._One particular pair hands are so...c-c-cold. The cold hands handle me with discretion- only touching when necessary- Who's hands are these? Are they the hands of the lifeless, ever neutral police officer...?

"Thank you, officer. We don't know what would've happened if you weren't around at the time."

"Hn."

I'm...being lifted- Ah! Pain!- I hurt....everywhere...My neck...My legs- My- Oh Christ, those hands are cold...

_cold c-c-old cold hands cold c-c-cold_

"Gently...okay. We got him on the stretcher- Let's move out!"

"'Ey! You can't be fuckin' serious!- You're arresting me!?! I told that fuckin' redhead before, you bloody bastard- My wife'll kill me!!"

"Sir, we're going to need you to calm down. Please enter the vehicle..."

"I didn't do nothin' to that kid! E' fell on his own!!"

"Sir, we're going to have to force you into the vehicle if you-"

"Fuck that! No way I'm goin' to jail for somethin' I didn't fuckin' do-"

"Sir if you don't-"

_loud loud its too loud make the noise stop make it stop please its too loud its too loud i want it to-_

_"_Officer, would you like to get into the ambulance? We would appreciate more help."

"Hn."

Feet...rustling-

_Bam!_

Doors...close...

"It'll only take a few minutes, buddy."

Hands...touching...

_stop touching me!_

Silence. But we're moving...I can feel it. Vroom, vroom, vroom...we're in a car...We're going fast and-

_Wheeeeoooowheeeooowheeeoo_

Police? No....it's an ambulance....But...

...Who got hurt?

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It was cold...He didn't know where...where...

"Where am I?"

No one answered but there was rustling- He turned to look but-

"Ouch!"

Pain. He felt pain and he-

"Careful, now..." said a voice. "I wouldn't move around too much if I were you..."

He wanted to ask questions, but the footsteps walked away. He couldn't see...He felt like his eyes were glued shut. His eyeballs were moving under his eyelids but he still...couldn't...see...

He thought he was alone then. Alone… he was alone and-

"He's right in here, officers."

No. Not alone. Not anymore. Someone was here. Who was it? He wanted to see, but his eyes were shut and he couldn't open them-

"What happened to his eyes?"

"Medical procedure- Now please, officers, make yourselves comfortable. I'll be outside if you need-"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah- whatever; we can take it from here."

Footsteps exit. Door shuts. Was he alone again?-

"Listen, kid- You better make this quick. We just want to get some answers before they throw you in some juvenile ward."

Who was this woman? He heard a chair being pulled over. He could feel her presence getting closer. She was hovering over him...

"Okay- right to the point- Where'd you stash the rest of the drugs?"

What?

"Hello? Anybody in there? Is this kid still sleeping?"

Poke, poke- She was touching him-

_stop touching dont touch stop touching dont-_

"You're wasting time."

"Oh, loosen up, Gaara- We got all day with this kid. Now kid, I know you're alive under there. Just tell us where you're stashing the rest of the drugs, and we can get outta here."

What was the name the woman just said...? Gaara...? That voice...he sounded...familiar...That voice...it...Wait. It's him. It's...it's him! It's that guy...The police man. He's-

"Hey, look. I think the brat's waking up." It was that woman again.

Naruto didn't even notice when he began to open his eyes. They felt sticky and flakey...as if he'd been sleeping for days. It hurt to open them...The light was blinding...He could feel it piercing through the very core of his eyeball. He could feel himself grimace at the pain, but still, he tried to open his eyes.

The first thing he saw was a woman. She was pretty. Blonde hair. Very long. Murky blue eyes. Naruto didn't dare look anywhere else. He might see _him. _He didn't think he can handle being too close to him...That man. The police man.

"So you've finally come around." said the woman. He blinked at her- or at least tried to, but his eyes took a long time to open again.

"Jesus christ, what the hell did they put in your eyes?" she asked again. He felt her hands touch the sides of his eyes. He flinched at her touch but she didn't seem to recognize his discomfort.

"It looks like some kind of gauze...What do you think, Red?"

She received no answer and for that Naruto was thankful. He didn't like the way that man's voice made an odd shiver go up his spine. He didn't like how a voice so neutral could bother him so much. Maybe it was because the redhead knew something. Maybe it was because 'Red' knew something that Naruto would like to forget- something that shouldn't have been seen by anyone. And yet…Naruto couldn't _remember_ what it was…

"Fine. Whatever. Don't answer me." said the woman. Then she looked into Naruto's eyes. "It's good that you're awake now, 'cause we're in need of some information that'll save us a _lot_ of trouble." She said with a small edge to her voice.

He didn't understand a word she was saying.

"Where's the stash?" she asked.

He was confused. "What stash?" he asked.

"Oh, come on!" He could hear the chair scraping as the blonde woman abruptly stood up. He kept his eyes on her as she glared impatiently at him and pointed an accusing finger.

"Do you really want me to expose you before you actually give me some answers?! You know what you did- so just spill it! Where are you hiding the rest of the drugs?!"

He looked at her with wide eyes. He was frightened. Did she need drugs? Did she need her fix...? Well...then she should ask Kiba...Kiba, he's such a nice guy, he'll get her anything she wants.

"Kiba." he says. The woman narrows her eyes at him. "Come again...?"

He looked right at her. "Kiba." he said again. "He...he always gets you what you want...Sometimes...sometimes you can get it for free..." His eyes dimmed a bit. "...Because he was a such a great guy..." He felt funny. Something in the back of his mind was telling him that he was missing something...He was missing something very..._very_ important...Kiba...Kiba _was_ a nice guy...

"Hey, kid...You aren't making any sense...Does Kiba have the rest of the-"

"Kiba's dead." Naruto said suddenly. Then his eyes widen. _Kiba's dead_?

_dead dead dead dead he's dead no more crystal for you cuz he's dead dead fucking dead dead de-_

Naruto shook his head. Since when...? He wanted to clutch his forehead but odd contraptions stuck to his forearms prevented him from doing so. Kiba was dead…Who said that…? No wait…_he_ said that. Or was it the voice inside his head….?...The voice that sounded so suspiciously like his own…

What was going on? Was the voice telling the truth- No..no wait- _he_ was the one who said it. It came out of _his_ mouth…O-or did it? Did it come out of his mouth or did it echo in his head? Did it come out of his mouth or was the voice inside-!?!

"Hey, kid!" the woman suddenly cried. Naruto's eyes flew open, realizing that his eyes were closed. He was trembling slightly. He moved his head but his eyes didn't quite focus on blonde woman.

"Kid…What do you mean by 'Kiba's dead?'" she asked slowly, as if speaking to a child.

Naruto only shook his head, not really paying attention to the woman in front of him. He…he had to remember…Kiba…Kiba's…dead? Wait…

Who was Kiba anyway?

Naruto sharply inhaled. No…no…no, no, no, no no!! He knew who Kiba was. He _knew!_ It was only moments ago when h-he _knew_. How could he forget?! Damn it, why couldn't he _remember_?!?!

Forcefully tugging the wires that stuck to his arm, Naruto brought his palms to his head. There was one paticular needle stuck in his arm that took a great effort to pull out. naruto grunted something profound when the needle pulled out of his arm with one forceful tug.

"H-hey! What are you doing?!" the woman yelled.

A machine in the room sounded it off erratically- _beep! beep! beep!_, it rang, and Naruto gritted his teeth. He was trying to _concentrate_. He needed to _concentrate_. What was he missing?! What was he forgetting?!

He barely heard the panicked voice of the blonde woman above the voices screaming in his head.

_Kiba kiba kiba died died died dead died dead dead died dead kiba kiba kiba kiba –_

"What are you doing just standing there, Gaara?!" yelled the woman. "Do something! Get out and call the doctor!"

There was shuffling, but Naruto couldn't hear. All he knew was that he had to remember- He had to _remember_.

"Fine! If you won't do anything, I'll find them myself."

More scuffling before the door slammed. The slam made Naruto jump, and a jolt of memories began to swim around his head.

"…_found him at my house…fucking overdose, Naruto!!!"_

Naruto cringed, his fingers pulling mercilessly at his hair.

"_Sasuke_…" he whispered breathlessly as tears formed at the corner of his eyes.

_overdose overdose fucking overdose Naruto you-_

Naruto was now gasping for breath. Too many memories- Too fast- all coming at him at once- H-he couldn't-

_Breaking up breaking up breaking up with you Naruto breaking up with you Naruto im breaking up with yo-_

The sob that left Naruto's throat racked his body so violently it send seismic waves vibrating through his back. He knew…he knew…oh, he remembered- he r_emembered_- ! And now, he wished he could just forget again- He needed to forget again, he-

_im moving moving in with neji tomorrow tomorrow -- overdose fucking fucking overdose naruto!!_

"Haaa…m-make it sto-op" he chocked on his words, hands clutching his temple like a lifeline.

_OVERDOSE NARUTO fucking overdose overdose kiba kiba over overdose- your fault your fault all your fault always your fault your fault- failure failure FAILURE FAILURE_

Naruto's anguished cry seemed to echo around in the room… but then it was met with a gasp of surprise.

Ever so suddenly, something immensely cold touched the hands that rested at the side of his head. Naruto jolted and his closed eyes flew open. They went impossibly wide as his pale blue orbs found themselves locked in the gaze icy green one's. The police man…he…

Naruto began to shake.

_Aren't you going to arrest me?! Aren't you you- arrest me arrest me im a monster monster im a monstermonster im a monster murderer monstermonster MONSTERMON-_

"_Enough."_

Naruto opened his eyes, not remembering when he had closed them again. Once again he met the piercing gaze of the tall man. The redhead still had his hands holding Naruto's. Ever so slowly the man began to peel Naruto's hands from his hair. Naruto lamely allowed him to do this, his shock making him too weak to protest. Gaara tacitly coaxed Naruto to relax with his fingers. With a tenderness that surprised Naruto, the man pulled the blonde's hands away from his face and set them down on the sheet covering Naruto's lap.

"That's enough." He said again. His voice was quiet, and his lips barely moved while repeated his soft spoken command.

Naruto blinked slowly, fat tears rolled down and his cheeks and still he sobbed quietly…but the redhead's eyes never left his, and Naruto…didn't think he _wanted_ them to…It was as if everything around him stopped…The redhead's eyes were almost…hypnotic, as if pulling him into a sleep induced trance…His eyes felt heavy…and the tears stopped…He was actually…falling…aslee-

Suddenly the door burst open revealing the blonde police woman and several doctors behind her. Naruto started when all the doctors came rushing to him. Suddenly everything around him was moving, and a high pitched _beep!-beep!-beep!-beep!_ began to ring in his years…or...was it always ringing…?

His shock lasted a few moments, and already the doctors were fastening the probes and wires back on him, touching him and asking he him questions that blurred together as incoherent sentences. "_Are you alwhere does it hurdo you feel any pain?"_

Naruto blinked in confusion. What was going on…? The beeping noise suddenly went away when another needle was plugged into his arm. He winced slightly, but it was nothing compared to pain he felt when he _pulled_ it out.

There was another needle poking at his arm, and a doctor put a gloved hand against his forehead to push him gently down against the bed. Naruto suddenly felt very sleepy. His eyes fluttered shut, and the sticky substance around them made it too difficult to open again…So Naruto gave up. He let his eyes close…and for some reason…he didn't feel panicked any more….He felt…_relaxed._ He felt…_safe._ And more importantly-

He _remembered_.

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End Chapter

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**YOU MUST READ THIS!**

**This chapter was originally _7,000_ words long, but I decided to shorten it, so this is only _part one_ of my update. I will be updating the next chapter TOMMOROW- I'm not sure what time, but I'm hoping before 12:00 pm. It's already written, and much longer than this chapter was.**

**-**

**Anyway- story Notes:**

**It was surprisingly, very dificult to write this chapter- You don't know how many times I kept changing from first person, to third person, then back to third person....then back to first person....then I just decided to mix it up- PLEASE TELL ME IN YOUR REVIEWS IF YOU FOUND ANYTHING CONFUSING- I shall clear it up fro you.- **

**To make it a little easier on people, I'll just say that in the first part, Naruto's simply having a bad dream where he's running away from himself, and on the second part, Naruto is on the floor, after he collapsed in the store, and there are paramedics and policemen surrounding him...of course Gaara (and his cold hands) are there to help him into the ambulance...**

**I think the third part of the story is pretty easy to understand- AGAIN, italics is that strange voice inside Naruto's head ( who apparently never learned grammar) that tells him the painful reality, and makes Naruto feel bad : (...**

**ALOT will be happening in the next chapter I'm excited to post it up 0.o.- You'll be seeing alot of our favorite redhead- : ).**

**Uh...so...That's about it- stay tuned for the next chapter! : )**

**Oh- and Review! They make me feel so0o0 goood. **


	6. Change, Complete

**Oblivion**

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Chapter Six_: Change, Complete_

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When Naruto opened his eyes again, it was as if a small weight was lifted off of him. He felt lighter, and more at peace; He had had a good sleep.

The strange gauze that he had in his eyes before was gone, so he was able to flutter them open with ease. It was still very bright inside the room, and his pale blue orbs had to adjust before he could feel at ease…

A few more minutes passed before he sat up in the hospital bed. The soft _beep, beep, beep_, of the machines hooked on to him calmed him down, and set the mood in the relaxed atmosphere. What was this feeling? He thought to himself. What was this..._weight_ lifted off of him…?

Closing his eyes, he tried to remember what happened before he fell asleep. Plain memories came streaming into him.

_Ah_, he thought lamely. Another panic attack. He brought his hands together and began to play with them, trying to remember some more…

He found it surprising how easily the memories came to him…Usually it took a while for him to remember anything…That always frustrated him…Maybe…that was why…?

Yes. Yes it was. He had panicked because he couldn't remember…again. Naruto shook his head quietly. Slowly, his memory patterns began to form as a whole. He knew what had happened almost perfectly now…and he knew the reasons behind them. It was the drugs…The _drugs _made him forget…and the drugs made him panic. Naruto was angry at himself, for letting this happen to him again…

Naruto let out a sigh as he tried to remember more. He felt like he was still missing something…a part of his brain was still clogged with a fog of dust- meth dust. He twiddled his fingers to help him remember, but he only got far off memories of days ago, delicate flashes of him and Kiba playing as a child, and…and…who was that person…that person looking back at him from the corner of his mind….?

Naruto hated how memories worked…He especially hated how _his _memories worked. The meth, the cocaine, the acid, the ecstasy, and the crank, left his memories working like dreams- Dreams that faded away in the morning, dreams that played in the back of your mind like a plague…Only, you couldn't know what that plague consisted of- you couldn't _remember_.

His dream-like memories made things discordant, and unclear. He knew things- He _knew_ they existed, but the fog of drugs made the things he knew seem like static- it made people look like ghosts- It made him _feel_ like a ghost- Existing…but not existing…there…but not _there._

And now, there was a stabbing sensation at the back of his mind telling him that he was forgetting _one_ thing- one very important thing: What happened _after _the panic attack?

Again all he got was a ghost like shape of a person, spinning around in his mind. Naruto grunted, trying to think harder. The ghost only became a little clearer, now coming into the shape of a man without a face…Naruto shut his eyes a little tighter, grunting again- He was close…so _close-_

A small 'click' sounded ahead of him and he looked up. A man in white emerged from behind the door with a smile on his face. "You're awake!" he said happily. Naruto nodded hesitantly. If possible, the man's smile grew wider. "I am Dr. Yakushi, but please, call me Kabuto."

Naruto nodded again and watched as the man walked beside him. "Now, if you have any questions, feel free to voice them." He said while looking carefully at a small monitor besides Naruto's bed. "Hmm…everything seems to be alright…" he said mostly to himself. Then her turned to the blonde. "Do you know where you are, son?" he asked.

Naruto didn't answer. He had a pretty good idea…but he's been wrong before.

"You're in the hospital." Dr. Yakushi answered slowly, as if talking to a child. "You were brought in here from a store, I believe…" he said as if trying to remember. "You had a lot of very bad substances in your system…" the doctor said shaking his head.

Naruto put his own head down, ashamed.

There was a pause for a few moments, and the doctor began to fiddle with the machines. "What's your name, son?" he asked suddenly.

"…Naruto…" the blonde mumbled quietly.

The doctor smiled. "_Naruto_…" the man repeated. "That's a very nice name."

Naruto shrugged his shoulders sheepishly and began to twiddle his fingers a bit more. "What…" Naruto started to say, "…what happened to me?"

The doctor wrote something down on the clipboard he brought with him. "Well, Naruto…" he started looking into his eyes. "When they brought you in, you were out cold- very dangerous for someone in your condition…." He said looking away for a moment. "If you hadn't come to us like you did, you probably wouldn't be here right now, Naruto." Naruto flinched slightly. "Luckily," the doctor continued, "…you were brought to us, just in time. You were going through withdrawal, Naruto- do you know what that means?" he asked looking at the blonde again.

Naruto nodded his head lamely.

The doctor nodded his head in return. "Good, good. Then you know that your body was craving for something- something very _dangerous_, Naruto…" the man said. "…and when your body craves something like that…it means you've had it _before_."

Naruto nodded helplessly.

There was silence for a few moments before the doctor spoke again, "Naruto we found some awful things swimming in your system…" he said slowly, "…and we were able to pump most of it…but…Our doctors do not have available medication to help stop the cravings…" His pause forced Naruto to look up at him. "I strongly suggest that after all of this…you go straight to a rehabilitation center."

Naruto turned away from the man quickly. He had heard about those centers- from friends. It never helps, they said. They treat you like crap, and when you leave you just get the cravings all over again. Naruto frowned at the thought of going there.

"There's also something else, Naruto…" the man said. "I'm not sure if you remember this; we injected you with a powerful medication to put you to sleep, but you might recall two officers who came into your room yesterday…They came to ask questions…- Do you remember that, Naruto?"

Naruto squint his eyes a bit. Two officers? He…couldn't…- Ah, wait! Two officers…yeah…yeah he remembered. It was a woman and a man, right? He couldn't remember there faces but, if he saw them…maybe he would recognize them…? Maybe… he would remember what part of his memories was missing…?

"Yes." he said slowly, even though he wasn't really sure.

Dr. Yakushi nodded. "Well…as officers of the law…They had a warrant that enabled them to look at your blood samples and look at the data we had on you…I'm a afraid they found some things they would like to question you about…and being that you were supposedly in possession of illegal goods…You might probably be spending some time in…"

Dr. Yakushi didn't have to finish. _Prison_.

The doctor took the look on Naruto's face as understanding and put a hand on his shoulder. "I asked them to wait at least a few days but… the police woman was persistent- She would like to speak with you immediately." He finished gravely.

Naruto made a jerky nod with head, the word prison still echoing in his head.

"All right, then." The doctor said lifting his hand off of the blonde's shoulder. "I'll let them in."

Naruto didn't watch as the man walked to the door to step outside.

Many minutes passed before the door opened again, revealing the same doctor and two other people, a blonde haired woman and….

Naruto took a sharp intake of breath-

_Gaara._

Apparently, his memories reacted strongly to people, because Naruto had to fight to hide the shock from appearing on his face. He felt his eyes go wide, wider than they ever had before. In a flash, everything fell into place. He not only remembered- he _understood_. He _knew_.

He _knew_ what had happened yesterday- all of it. And it was no longer a dream like blur- It was solid interpretations of the past. He _knew_ why he was feeling so light- it was because the doctor pumped out most of the drugs out of his system, he _knew _why the blonde woman was glaring at him right now- because he hadn't given her answers yesterday, and he _knew _why he had to fight to steady his leaping heart when he looked at Gaara...It was because the redhead…was the one who…_calmed_ him…He was the one who _saw _Naruto at his most vulnerable- _Three _times.

Naruto almost laughed at himself. It was so funny, how that name- Gaara- rang in his mind like it did. He already forgot the doctor's name, and he didn't have the slightest clue who the woman was, but that name- _Gaara- _he had the strongest feeling…that he would forget it.

"Are you going to just sit there gaping like a fish?" a female voice said suddenly. Naruto stepped out of his trance and turned to look at her. She had her hair in a ponytail today, and it made her eyebrows shoot up in her forehead. "Well, you know what we're here for." She said harshly, "Tell us where you're hiding the rest of the drugs."

Right to the point, Naruto thought warily. He remembered how persistent the woman had been yesterday.

"Doctor, I'm going to ask you to leave." She said turning the face the man. The doctor nodded curtly and stepped outside, closing the door behind him.

When the woman turned back to him, she walked towards the blonde so she was right beside the bed. "You remember us, right?" she said with a smirk, "Or did the crack you were sniffing shag us right out of your memory?" she said without a smile.

Naruto flinched at her meanness. He had the strangest urge to tell her that it was a long time since he did crack, but he kept his mind shut.

"As you know," the woman continued. "…we found some illegal substances after some of our experts looked through your blood samples. "Handbook says I should make suspects aware of their situation, so I'm going to run it by you again." She seethed.

What was wrong with this woman? Naruto thought. She was looking at Naruto with such hatred- What did he do?

"You were brought into this hospital after your body shut down from withdrawal in some corner store down at Kujaku." The woman started. "If the doctors didn't work as fast as they did, you could've been done for. Lucky for you, your permanent coma was reduced _significantly_ after some of the doctors pumped all the _crap_ you had out of your system.

"Since the police were already involved in this, we took a little peak at your blood samples and found that the crystal methamphetamine-" she said the drug with such disgust. "-in your system was a rare kind imported only from the Middle East for medical purposes." She sneered at the word 'medical', and glared harder at the blonde.

"There's a rumor going around that there's an insider in the transporting business who's secretly stealing loads of illegal drugs and distributing them to people like you- So I'm asking you, Naruto- that is your name, right? - where are you hiding the rest of the drugs- who are your accomplices, wait, no- you look to stupid for that- who are you accomplic_ing." _

_Zabusa, _Naruto thought with despair. Not because he actually cared what happened to the man, but because of Haku. Naruto would never tell on anyone, but Zabusa was bound to get caught sooner or later, and if anyone was going to get hurt, it was going to be Haku._ Pregnant_ Haku.

And _stealing_ transported good from the Middle East? Naruto thought bewildered. He had no idea that that was the extent of Zabusa's crimes.

"Well..."the woman pestered.

Naruto shook his head no.

"Ugh! You're such a _brat_-" she said before turning around to face the corner of the room. Naruto figured she was looking at Gaara, but he wasn't ready to look at the redhead yet. He didn't like the way his presence was making him feel- Vulnerable and inadequate.

"Aren't you going to say something?"

She received no answer. "God damn it!" she shouted suddenly before walking away from the bed to that corner of the room Naruto refused to look at. "You're so _useless_." There was no retort, but the woman grumbled before turning to the blonde again. "Fine." She said angrily. "Since you refuse to give me answers, we'll just send you to _jail_. You've proven to be of no use to us." She said bitterly.

Naruto watched her pull open the door. "I'm going to make a phone call." She said angrily before turning to the corner where the redhead was. "Keep an eye on him." And with that she left.

Naruto felt strange when she left. He needed her back…She dulled the presence of the redhead in the room…but now that she was gone…Now that he was _alone_ with him…It was hard to ignore him.

But still, Naruto kept his head down. From the corner of his eyes he could see the redhead leaning casually against the wall, just as he had been the previous day. It was strange to have him so close, and he couldn't even see his face…

The redhead stood in the far corner of the room, leaving Naruto's secret glances filled with only a view of his uniform pants. They hung off his skin lifelessly, but hugged his slim waist and were tucked into his black boots. If Naruto lifted his head just a bit, he would see the man's slim torso...he had his arms crossed over his chest, and tucked in the uniform pants was that same tight black t-shirt he wore the time he saw Naruto that day on the staircase. The T-shirt hugged his lean body, and he seemed to have hooked the sleeves of his police jacket around his neck, making an unintentional cape, and his hat was still hooked over the lever of his gun.

Naruto found it weird how a police man could look so _causal_. His uniform was dimmed down to look like regular clothes, and yet…somehow…he still kept a strange air of authority.

Even with him so far away, Naruto was still trembling. The man's presence just...scared him. It made his heart leap in fear...or was that...something else?

Naruto found himself thinking how strange the man was…This…Gaara person. He had such a strange name too…

Naruto knew that it was definitely this man that saw him with the bag of crystal and practically murdering a dog the other day...but the police woman's questions proved that the redhead really didn't tell on him. The man hadn't even arrested him. What kind of police man was this person?

Part of Naruto was angry at Gaara. What if Naruto wasn't as pathetic as he was, but a criminal master mind (ha ha) that killed animals? What if some little kid found the drugs and shared it with his toddler friends at the park as 'shiny' candy?!

The other part of Naruto was relieved that the red head didn't tattle. He wasn't ready to go to jail- not because he thought he didn't deserve it, not because he was really all that scared, but because....he had a dog to take care of. A dog that was alone in his crappy apartment- alone and _hungry_. He was such a failure...The one important thing comes into his life and he can't even buy it food without getting into a mess.

A familiar wave of depression washed over Naruto. Alone in his mind, he forgot about the police man, absentmindedly wondered where the other police officer was, and thought long and hard about the dog- _his_ dog. It needed a name, he realized. He had to give it _something _before he was inevitably thrown into a celler.

A cellar. _Jail_. Naruto wrinkled his nose. He _was _going to jail, right? That's the punishment for...having illegal goods...and being under suspicion of more, right? How many years? He thought slowly. How long would he have to stay in that cold cell? He didn't want to think about it, but he had to. He had to get ready; he had to prepare for the absolute worse, because those were the only things that came to Naruto, only the worst things.

At least he was _gay_, he thought bitterly. No worries about dropping the soap. Horny cellmates, was probably the least of Naruto's problems anyway. Anyone could touch him now- because he was _single_- He had been _dumped_. Yeah. Exactly. He could screw with anyone now- because he didn't have to wait for _him _anymore. Stupid Sasuke. He could have Neji. Naruto would have a blast in the jail cell, and he'll have a thousand boyfriends, and Sasuke could kiss Neji's ass for the rest of his life for all he cared.

The thought of Sasuke made Naruto grip the sheets.

Sasuke couldn't be that heartless, right? Surely…surely he would at least _visit _Naruto, right? He would visit…and he would pour his heart out to the blonde…He would feel sorry for Naruto…he would…he would dump Neji…and wait for Naruto to get out of jail so he could be with him- a-and they would live happily ever af-

Naruto made a small sound of surprise at the back of his throat. What? _What? _What the hell was that? It was just like a few days ago- he was making weird scenarios again- He was _hoping. _Damn it, he still _loved_ the bastard.

The sound of someone walking quickly through the door made him look up. His neck was stiff and it made sounds of protest. The several minutes he had to himself to ponder about how _fucked_ he was, made him forget where he was, made him forget how bright the room was, made him forget the red head police officer that was still in the room- leaning against the wall, and staring....straight....at him.

And for the umpteenth time Naruto saw that face. Only this time was different. The time in the store was only a fleeting glance, and when he was caught in the building, it was too dark in the stairway, but in this hospital room, where the lights were so damn bright, Naruto could see everything- _everything_.

And the redhead could see him. He was staring at him, shamelessly, with his arms still crossed over his chest, no distaste, or kindness on his face- simply an odd form of acceptance- no- _neutralism_, Naruto realized. This man just…didn't...care.

"You're a lucky bastard, you know that?" said a voice. Gaara? No. The woman. She was back. Naruto sharply looked away from the redhead and turned to the woman in confusion. Had he been staring? He wondered.

The woman had coffee and a stack of papers in her hands and if possible, and even angrier face than the one she had when she left. "Would you believe, it?!" she said with a raise of her arm, suddenly making a small splash of brown liquid to come out of her cup. "He's been freaking bailed!- And we didn't even get to sentence the bastard- I'm so angry-"

"Bailed?" Naruto spoke suddenly. What did that mean?

The woman turned to him with a deep frown. "Don't pretend you don't know- I don't know who's trying to keep your cover, but we still have you under suspicion- remember that!"

Naruto was confused. What was this woman talking about? He was becoming frustrated and angry with her. He didn't know anything- so she should just tell him what the hell was going on…

Apparently, the confusion on Naruto's face was becoming hard to ignore, so the woman grunted angrily and spoke again. "Some old hag called up and gave _a lot_ of money to some people behind the scenes so you don't have to go to jail!" she ended with an angry shout. "Can you believe this?!" she said turning to the redhead. The redhead made no attempt agree.

"Old...hag?' Naruto said slowly. Then-"Oh." He held in his small smile, lest he angered the woman again.

_Grandma_.

"You think this is funny?!" the woman yelled. Apparently Naruto didn't hide his amusement too well.

The woman made another growling sound before turning to him again. "I suppose you aren't going to tell me who that woman was?" she said distastefully. Naruto knew that his grandmother most likely didn't give the police woman an easy time.

"She's my grandmother." he said quietly.

The woman quirked an eyebrow. "Does _she_ know where the rest of the drugs are?" she asked evilly, before laughing. "How the hell did the hag get enough money to bail you out_ before_ you were sentenced?"

Naruto shrugged. "She's the mayor."

Naruto almost smiled at the way the woman sputtered into her coffee, but it wasn't her reaction that affected him. It was Gaara's reaction... or rather... his _lack of _reaction- Gaara's _stillness_. He wasn't looking at the blonde anymore, instead he was frowning slightly at the mess the blonde woman was making. His arms were still crossed over his chest, his only movement being the shifting of one foot against the wall.

"The mayor?!?" the woman sputtered back, bringing Naruto's attention back to her. Naruto nodded slowly. He always got this reaction when people found out who his grandmother was back in high school- back when he was..._normal_.

"The mayor??!?" the woman yelled again, forgetting the small brown stain that trailed down her chin. This time Naruto did smile. He did it openly, not bothering to hide it this time.

It felt.... _strange_ to smile- a genuine smile. Not bitter like the ones he'd been making lately, not a fake purse of the lips, but a genuine..._smile_. The corners of his mouth twitched a bit- as if straining to keep up- When was the last time Naruto smiled? It couldn't have been to long ago. No...it wasn't...but this time...He felt that this smile had some sort of..._meaning._

Naruto's old teacher used to tell him about these things...Used to tell him about these moments...Moments when something seemingly insignificant signaled something in time...What was that something...?

Change.

_Change_, Naruto realized.

That was what his old teacher used to tell him...Moments in time that showed _change_.

Something was changing, and by some miracle maybe...maybe_ he_ was changing. Yes. Change. _Change_. Naruto didn't know if he was still smiling but the blonde woman was looking at him funny now. The red head, casual as ever, was looking at something over at the side- But Naruto didn't really feel intimidated by the man anymore....Even that voice inside his head...that frantic voice that sounded suspiciously like his own... had _stopped_...

This sudden revelation startled Naruto. That voice…was gone…? Since when? Five minutes wouldn't pass without that voice speaking to him, whether it was to tell him he was a failure, or to tell him he needed more drugs…And now…Naruto couldn't even hear it-

"What- are you having an orgasm? What the hell is up with this kid?" said the woman bringing Naruto out of his thoughts. He was still smiling and a dazed look was on his face.

Orgasm? He thought, amused. Strange way to put it…But…this feeling was the closest he had ever felt to pleasure in a long time- _Hope_. Something he promised himself he would never allow to consume him…But now…now it was all he had. _Hope. _Hope and _change_.

"What did Baa-chan say?" he asked suddenly, his voice clearer, louder than it had been in a days. His eyes were getting better, and the lights didn't bother him as much anymore. In fact, he liked it. He liked the bright lights. He needed something different. No more darkness. No more shuddering in the cold, and only emerging from the shadows when it was dark- He would go into the light- _embrace_ the light…Like he used to do in high school…

The blonde woman looked at Naruto for a moment. The _new _Naruto, the blonde thought happily.

"Well…"the woman started. "After she finished cursing me to oblivion...she started saying how we should let you go…She said it was pointless because the police wouldn't tolerate any punishment towards you…Your grandmother…has _power_ over them it seems…" she said bitterly. "But don't think you're off the hook!" she shouted suddenly. "I'm going straight to the boss and demanding you _at least_ get probation!"

Naruto nodded his head. Probation. That was when he was stuck in his house right? And he wouldn't be able to come out…Or was that just…what was it called….House probation?

"What kind of probation?" he asked. The woman shrugged her shoulders. "Something the old hag won't have me killed for."

"House arrest."

Both Naruto and the blonde woman turned to the redhead leaning on the wall.

"So he speaks." The woman said bitterly before rolling her eyes. "He's right." She said. "House arrest…We'll leave it to your grandmother on how many days you'll be-"

"Can I call her?" Naruto asked suddenly. The woman blinked. "What?"

"Baa-chan." Naruto clarified. "I want to call her…"

The woman scowled. "You think just because you're suddenly off the hook you can simply go and call your grandma?! You think we'll let a brat suspected of _illegal_ possessions just _waltz _around the hospital?! What if you and your old hag contrive some plan to hide the drugs!? Don't forget, Naruto, you are still under suspicion and everything you say or do-"

"Enough."

Again both blonde's turned to the redhead. Said redhead pushed himself off the wall and looked at the woman through expressionless eyes. "You're making a fool of yourself Yamanaka." He said slowly. "If you're so worried, then escort him to the telephone."

Naruto blinked. He never heard the redhead speak so many words at once. And that voice… indifferent friendliness…listless…_lifeless_. The man spoke with impassive authority.

The blonde woman sighed an exasperated sigh. "Would it kill you to call me by my first name?"

"No."

The woman looked at the redhead for a moment before putting one hand on her hip defiantly. "Well,_ I'm_ not going to escort him- no way am I risking being responsible if this guy is actually up to something."

The redhead remained silent, and the woman smirked. " But you know what?" she said evilly. "I can't be held responsible if my _partner _screws up, now can I?" Gaara merely looked at her and she smirked some more. "Why don't _you_ escort the brat to the telephone, huh?"

The redhead looked at the woman for a few moments. It didn't even seem like he was considering it- it was as if he hadn't even heard a word she said, but Naruto was surprised when the redhead turned that distant gaze on him and said, "Lets go."

For a several moments Naruto just sat there tangled in the hospital sheets. Was he even allowed to leave? Slowly, he began to move from the confines of his bed, only a single wire connected to his left middle finger needed to be pulled out. Carefully, he turned to the edge of the bed and tired to find the floor with his feet. He, being so short, had to practically jump down to reach the ground. After a few moments of awkward silence, the blonde looked up.

The blonde woman had an annoyed look on her face and the redhead was simply looking at him- waiting patiently. With an awkward sound Naruto walked toward the both of them. The movement of his feet seemed strained to him. It was obvious that his muscles had been dormant a long time. With steady foot steps he walked until he was in front of the redhead, not very surprised to see that he was at least two heads shorter than he was.

The redhead said nothing as he headed towards the door and pulled it open, but he didn't step out. Instead he stepped aside and waited for Naruto to go through first. It took moment for Naruto to recognize the gesture. It had been a while since he was even _allowed_ to step through certain doors, much less have others open them for him. With awkward steps, he walked out of the room and stepped out into the hall. The redhead followed him out and the police woman followed after him.

"I'm going to contact Kakashi again." She murmured quietly to Gaara. "We'll meet at the front desk.- And don't let him use your cell phone!" She said, looking at the blonde again. "I know how busy the phones can be, but the hospital phones record _all _calls." She said smirking at Naruto.

Naruto wanted to say something to the woman but Gaara began to walk away. The blonde hurriedly began to follow him, at first making sure to keep at least a few steps behind, but then he remembered what he was supposed to do. he remmebred the epiphany he had just momens ago- He was supposed to be changing; he had…to at least try…to…

"The phone is over there." The redhead said suddenly, making Naruto jump. When Naruto looked up he saw that there was indeed a phone, but there was a line of people waiting for it. Not much- maybe four or five, and there was a small sign that read "Five Minutes Each". That was more than enough time, Naruto thought.

It took him a moment to realize that Gaara was looking at him, waiting again. At first Naruto was confused, but then he realized that Gaara was simply waiting for him to get on the line. He mentally smacked himself for wasting the man's time and walked into the line. He was surprised when the man followed and took a position beside him, head to shoulder.

Naruto took a sharp intake of breath at their proximity. It was still weird having him this close…But he had to change, he thought with a determined frown. He had to start anew, and he would start with this redhead.

The line moved slowly with every person determined to used exactly five minutes, and maybe sneak in another. Several minutes passed before Naruto began to fidget. He never did like staying still for too long- not when he was sober. Back in high school, he would've taken this opportunity to get to know the redhead…He would have probably started to blab his mouth uncontrollably by now.

What happened to that Naruto, anyway? He thought sadly. Drugs couldn't change you that much, could they?

"_You've changed_ _Naruto."_

Sasuke's voice rang in his ears and he formed a fist with his small hands. _Well, I'm gonna change back_, he thought defiantly. He'd show them. He'd show everyone what he could accomplish. And with that in mind, he turned his head to look up at the redhead.

"S-so…" he started quietly. "H-how long have you been a police officer?"

Naruto mentally smacked himself. He wished this new line of determination came with social skills. Seriously, Naruto-!

"Two years."

The answer came as a surprise. Normally, when he talked to people, they ignored him. Who would talk to someone that looked like a bum, anyway? So when Gaara answered…he was at a loss. Where to go from here?

"O-okay."

Way to elevate a conversation, genius. Naruto inwardly grunted. This was going to be harder than he thought. The redhead answered him, that was a good start…but how was he supposed to follow up? What should he say…?

"Uh…" he started quietly…"That…that day…in that building…" he started awkwardly. Holy…crap…how could he have brought that up? It slipped his mouth before he even thought about it. His body was mocking him- conniving an evil plan to destroy him, he thought childishly. He wasn't looking at the redhead, so he didn't know how he was taking it.

"Uh…y-you…didn't tell…" he continued lamely, before hunching over and playing with his fingers nervously. "…Thank you."

There was silence for a few moments and Naruto convinced himself that he screwed up. How could he have been so stupid as to bring that up?! If anything, the redhead probably just _forgot_ to tell. Or most likely didn't fell like bothering himself with such a stupid and insignificant person like him-

"You're welcome."

Again the voice startled him. Naruto had to be patient with this man, Naruto realized…and he jumped to conclusion too much, he thought shamefully. But still…he had to know-

"Why…I-I mean…why didn't you…tell?"

Naruto waited this time before jumping to conclusions. This man needed a moment before he answered questions it seemed. Hesitantly, Naruto looked up to see the look on the redhead's face. He was looking ahead, his arms were still crossed, and again he didn't even seem to be considering the question. He had the perfect poker face, Naruto concluded.

"It was none of my business." The redhead finally answered. Naruto's eyes went slightly wide at the answer. That was…_strange_ logic.

"But…you're a police officer…" he retorted softly.

His breath hitched when Gaara's eyes slowly turned to look at him. It unnerved him how the icy orbs moved so slowly without him even turning his head. "That doesn't matter to me." He said softly before looking away again.

Naruto blinked. Then he blinked again. He didn't understand…Maybe it wasn't the best idea to start a conversation with _this _particular person…but…Gaara intrigued him for some reason. He was a mystery.

"It's your turn." For the third time the quiet voice startled him. When Naruto looked ahead he saw that indeed the phone was unoccupied. Taking a quick unsure glance at the redhead beside him, he walked picked up the phone and began to dial the only number he ever bothered to memorize.

When it began to ring, his heart skipped a bit. The last time he spoke to his grandmother, he had punched her in the face and swore never to come back to her again. Not that the punch did anything to harm her…his grandmother wasn't like other grandmothers…and even though he did leave, he would mysteriously receive unsigned mail filled with money, a thousand dollars or so…all of which he spent on his addiction.

This kept up until last year when his grandmother stopped sending him letters ( he never read them, anyway), and the money she sent became thinner and thinner until only the letters came ( all of which he threw out), until finally nothing ever came from the mail, anymore.

Naruto absentmindedly began to recall how hard the year had been without his grandmother's help. He really needed to apologize…

"Hello, this is the mayor's office, may I help you?"

"Hey, Shizune…" he said quietly, happy to hear a familiar voice. "I…want to speak to Baa-chan…"

"N…Naruto?! Naruto is that you?"

Naruto nodded his head despite the fact that she couldn't see him.

"H-hold on, I'll get Tsunade right away!"

Naruto waited only a few moments before another familiar voice rang in his ears-

"Brat?! Is that you!?!" Naruto couldn't help but let a sad smile appear on his face. His eyes began to sting with tears. "Do you have any idea what you just cost me, you ungrateful son of a bitch- I swear when I get my hands on you I'll-"

"Baa-chan…" he breathed as tears threatened to roll down his cheeks. It would be strange to anyone how Naruto could actually be happy to hear such a vile old woman. "I-I've missed you…" he said with a small sniff.

There was silence on the other line for a moment. "You…you do?"

Naruto's smile grew wider and he sniffed again. "Thank you…" he started slowly. "…for…not letting go to jail…"

"I'd never let them do that to you, Naruto…" the woman said softly on the other line. It seemed she was becoming emotional as well.

"A-and thank you for the other times too…" Naruto said lamely. "…f-for helping me even though I…e-even though I…" Naruto didn't finish, his eyes closing as he held in a sob.

"Naruto…" The mayor said softly, her voice thick. "Please just come home…"

Naruto shook his head. "N-no Baa-chan…I'm under…house arrest."

"Ask them how much they want." The woman replied quickly. "I'll have you out of there and on a plane by tomorrow. Ask them how much it'll take, Naruto…-"

"No, Baa-chan!" Naruto said frustrated. He remembered how he used to hate his grandmother's way of making money her solution for everything. "I have to do this…I'm…I'm going to _change,_ Baa-chan…so...I have to do this…"

There was more silence at the other end for a while. "How long…do they expect you to stay under house arrest…?" she asked warily.

"I-I don't know…" Naruto said slowly. He didn't want to tell his grandmother that they said they would leave it up to her…If that as the case then he'd be on a plane to live with her before the day ended…Or worse yet, he'd be serving his sentence at _her_ place…It wasn't that he didn't want to…he _did_ want go back to his grandmother…But for some reason felt as if it wouldn't help him. If he wanted to change, he had to serve his sentence the _right_ way. And when he felt as if he was ready, then maybe…just maybe, he'd feel worthy enough to go back to his grandmother.

"Don't worry, Baa-chan," he said suddenly. "I'll come back to you some day…but for now I have to pay for…what I've done." Naruto stopped crying, and forced a voice of confidence. "I love you, Baa-chan. Wait for me."

Then he hung up the phone.

And then he…just stood there.

...

...

What now? he thought.

"Naruto."

Naruto jumped. Then he turned around. Gaara stood there, arms at his sides, eyeing the blonde with indifferent eyes. He looked unhurriedly…only…_waiting_.

Naruto put a big smile on his face and wiped his eyes. "Y-yeah," said sheepishly. "Sorry about that…" He laughed nervously and looked at Gaara. The redhead looked back at him for a moment before turning and walking down the hall they came from. It took Naruto a second before he began to follow him. He had a big smile on his face, his new found determination to change making him feel strangely warm inside.

He could _do _this. He realized. He could be the person he was back in high school….the bubbly, bright, annoying, blue eyed, blonde that everybody liked. He didn't know if he could get rid of his addiction…but he sure as hell was going to try.

Damn it, he was going to _try_.

-

-

-

**End Chapter!!**

**Yaaaawwwn! I just woke up. . Sorry, If you waited long. This chapter was a little over 7,000 words- I hope that didn't overwhelm anyone, haha. **

**S0o0o About this chapter: Naruto has completed the change cycle! (Dancing) Now it's all smooth sailing from here -NOT. I have alot of surprises for you in the next chapter, but I'm going to have to leave Oblivion alone this month so I could get back to my other stories. Anyway, I know Gaara didn't say much this chapter, I'm sorry, sorry, sorry, but It'll lead up to something awesome, I swear to you!**

**And _house arrest, _that's going to be fun to write about, seeing the policemen (Gaara) will have to continuously check up on the blonde (Teehee)**

**I think this chapter was pretty easy to understand, so if there's anything you'd like me to clear up, please write it down in your reviews and I'll be more than happy to explain.**

**Speaking, of reviews- REVIEW!!! I know some of you already did yesterday, but your reviews are my guilty pleasure- They make me feel so0o0o0o good. 0.o . Ah, ahem. Sorry about that.**

**: ) See you later.**


	7. Up, Then Down, Then Up Again

**Oblivion**

Chapter Seven: _Up Then Down, Then Up Again_

* * *

"Apparently, Kakashi's hooked under this hags thumb." the blonde police woman said, glaring furiously at Naruto. They were still at the hospital, gathered at the front desk as promised. Naruto was told (in the _politest_ way possible) to _'sit his ass down_' on the small chair against the wall while she and the redhead deliberated...Or rather it was more of the blonde woman whole heartedly complaining about the situation to a more than uninterested Gaara.

The redhead stood at least one head taller than the woman and he never met her eyes. He only stared blankly ahead, arms still crossed with his eyes offhandedly focused on the white walls above her head. Naruto tried to listen to what the officer was saying, after all it did concern his fate…but every once in a while, as he tuned in to the harsh words of the blonde police woman, he would find himself blocking her out and instead allowing all his available senses to take interest in the listlessly friendly redhead.

It confused him. How could a man intrigue him so much? A man who, on a wide scale, virtually did _nothing_. Naruto went over the possibility of liking the redhead, but even that didn't sound right. He was only _intrigued_.

"Kakashi won't go over a couple of weeks!" the police woman whispered harshly. "Can you believe that? You'd think this Tsunade woman was his mother or something…"

Silence from the redhead.

"God damn it, Gaara! You could at least _pretend_ to care!"

In a moment that seemed to last hours, Naruto watched as cool icy green orbs drifted to meet with the woman's own eyes. She only frowned, unfazed by what Naruto was already deeming EPIC. That was the word he was looking for- _Epic_. This man was epic. Everything he did made time stand still, and that wasn't an exaggeration. Every movement, every gesture, no matter how painfully slow it was, Naruto was instantly drawn to. How did the man do it? How did he make everything around him seem so painfully _inferior_?

Naruto decided he didn't like that. He didn't like the way the redhead made things seem insignificant. He didn't like the way his arms were crossed in such a dull, stupid, plain and…sexy manner. He didn't like the way his pale skin practically reflected the bright white lights of the hospital, making him glow- But most of all, he hated how this dislike for the redhead somehow dissipated into an odd air of thankfulness; This guy _helped_ him. He was probably the only reason Naruto made it to the hospital on time- probably the only reason why Naruto wanted to change himself for the better.

With a small sigh, he lamely wondered how long he would stay in the hospital. He wasn't exactly "healthy" after all. And papers. Didn't you have to sign papers when you left a hospital? Release forms, maybe?

"Well? Aren't you going to say anything?" Naruto's eyes turned back to the two police officers in front of him. The police woman had her hands on her hips, glaring daringly up at the redhead with a blatant spark of defiance. The redhead looked down at her coolly as if she had never spoken, as if he wasn't even considering what she was saying. And yet still, behind those polar green eyes Naruto could see the dull shift of _something_ playing through them. He was _thinking_, Naruto realized.

"You know what? Forget it." The woman said with exasperation thick in her voice. "I'll get this kid back to his stupid room. Call up his parents and let them know what this crack head's been up to."

_Ah_. Naruto thought with a distant smile. This was the dreaded moment he was hoping he could avoid. Out of habit, he began to play with his fingers again, rotating his thumbs around each other nervously with his head down. The odd behavior didn't go unnoticed by the two officers.

"Kid…?" The blonde asked slowly. "I'll be taking you up to your room…Gaara's going to contact your parents so they can sign you the hell out of he-"

Naruto shook his head suddenly, cutting the woman off. Even with his head down, Naruto could feel the eyes on him.

"What's up with you, kid?" the woman questioned slowly and with slight wariness, as if she was unsure of staying irrationally angry at the boy or just give in to the worry.

Naruto didn't answer for a few moments, but after a while he sighed and muttered bitterly, "I'm not a child, you know…I can take care of everything myself…"

The woman laughed. "You think you can fool us, _kid_?" she exclaimed incredulously. "A brat like you can't be more than seventeen!"

Naruto would have laughed if the news didn't shock him so much. _Seventeen_? He couldn't be _that_ tiny.

"I've seen cases like you." The woman continued knowingly. "You ran away, didn't you? You ran away from home, got mixed in with the wrong crowd and now you think you're a man now, huh? You think you don't need mommy and daddy 'cause you're all grown up now-"

"Shut it." Naruto grounded out, finally looking up to glare at the woman. "You don't know _anything _about me."

The woman looked taken aback for a moment before she smirked. "What's this…? Did I strike a nerve? Did I pin the nail in the head? Do your parents even know you're-"

"My parents are dead."

…

…

The silence that followed made Naruto nervous again. He dropped his glare and looked down to the ground. "Sorry." He muttered.

The woman made an odd sound at the back of her throat when Naruto mumbled his apology and she foolishly looked over at Gaara for answers. The redhead wasn't even looking at the blonde anymore. With a roll of her eyes she turned back to the sitting blonde. "How old are you, kid?" she asked with a hesitantly commanding voice.

Naruto didn't look up at her as he made fists with his hands on his lap. "Old _enough_."

The woman frowned and opened her mouth to speak- but then closed it again. She stared at the top of his head for a while, clenching and unclenching her fist to prevent her from punching the brat. Finally she turned away from the blonde and looked to the redhead. "Gaara, _you're_ going to take him to his room. I don't want to deal with him. Meanwhile, I'm going to fax some papers to that grandma of his and see if she could sign a few release forms." She paused to look at Naruto's reaction. The blonde only glared her way.

He didn't mind if Baa-chan signed his release forms, but it pissed him off to know that the woman didn't believe him when he said he could sign them himself. "I'm going to Kakashi's office after that." The woman continued. "You should meet me there so we could figure out when to take the brat in and file in our report." When she finished speaking she looked up at Gaara expectantly. The redhead was looking somewhere above her head again. With an angry growl she roughly took hold of the redhead's chin and pulled it down. "_Look_ at me, when I speak to you, Gaara." When Gaara didn't look at her right away she narrowed her eyes and gently slapped his cheek for emphasis.

Naruto, on the other hand, was inwardly choking. Was that woman…._touching_ the redhead? It was foolish, he knew this, but for a while, he figured the man to be a statue- A statue with an invisible force field that screamed, DO NOT TOUCH. As he watched the woman grab the redhead roughly, he couldn't help but feel a bit… _appalled_. As weird as it seemed, it was as if Naruto didn't _want_ the redhead to be touched. As if another person's touch would _taint_ the man somehow. The blonde watched with wide eyes as Gaara, unfazed by the (blasphemous!) touches, slowly allowed his eyes to meet the police woman's. The woman smiled. "Better." She replied simply as she let go of him.

Naruto wanted to slap the woman. He didn't know _why_. He didn't know why he was so shocked anyway. Why did he put Gaara on this pedestal? He was human too. Human touch other humans, right?

For some reason, this rational thinking didn't reassure Naruto.

Gaara was looking at the blonde woman now- _Impassively_, but still looking at her. Naruto blinked. Was the redhead actually going to listen to that woman?

"I'm going now." she said suddenly, after giving the blonde a warning look. "Don't do anything stupid." She said with a wag of her finger to the both of them.

Naruto watched the woman leave, the bitter frown still present on his face. But as the woman walked away, he could feel the presence of the redhead growing again. It put him on edge.

Naruto inwardly quirked an eyebrow at this. It was as if the woman dulled down the redhead's presence. She was there to keep his overwhelming aura in check…But more importantly, she was a distraction.

A distraction that was now disappearing down the hall…Naruto gulped down a wad of phlegm that was building up in his throat from nervousness. Slowly, he let his eyes drift to the redhead. He froze when he found icy green orbs looking right back at him. "U-uh…" Naruto started pathetically. He didn't know what to say. He didn't know what to do. Then he remembered:

_Gaara will take you to your room._

Naruto's eyes went wide. Gaara was _waiting_. He was waiting for him to get up. "Um…" Naruto stuttered as he ungracefully stood up from the chair. "Sorry." He muttered apologetically, looking away from those listless eyes.

Gaara said nothing. When Naruto stood up, the redhead's eyes had drifted elsewhere, already preoccupied with something else. The only indication Naruto had of Gaara hearing him was the fact that the redhead was walking away.

_Follow_, Naruto thought as he watched the retreating back of the taller man. Naruto began to walk after the redhead, keeping at least three feet behind him, childishly glaring at the back of the man's head.

Naruto was annoyed, to say the least. Why didn't Gaara just _say_ things? Why did everything have to be _decoded_? This confusion would have made Naruto unimaginably angry if he wasn't so damn _fascinated_ by the redhead. He was like a mystery lottery number that kept changing before you could grab the right ticket. He was like a boring puzzle that kept rearranging its pieces.

Wait, Naruto thought. He took that back. Gaara was anything _but _boring…But still…It would be nice if the redhead spoke what was in his mind once in a while.

Naruto shook his head, trying to get rid of the unpleasant thoughts. He couldn't go back to being the happy-go-lucky person he used to be if he let his annoyance get the best of him. He had to put all of that aside and…and…and what? Naruto didn't know. He had this great idea of changing, of being a better person, but exactly how was he going to do this? What was the plan? What did he have to do?

Deciding to stay away from drugs was a good step, but it was only the _first_ step. There was more to come- more that he had to do…but _what_? What could he do to change? What needed to be done?

Naruto wrinkled his nose. In high school, they used to say how he brightened a room when he came in. He looked down at his hands. He frowned. His skin was a pale sickly color- wan and pasty. His palms were dangerously white, and his finger nails were chipped and filled with dark crud. Naruto set his hands back on his sides and inwardly scoffed. Well there was no way he could get any brighter, he thought bitterly. And his paleness certainly couldn't brighten a room- _blinded_ it, maybe- but certainly not brighten it…

His thoughts on pale skin made his eyes travel to Gaara again. His back was to him, walking at a slow pace in front of the blonde. Blue eyes drifted to settle on the pale patch of exposed skin on Gaara's neck. The redhead was wearing his police jacket now- no longer were the arms of the blue material wrapped around his neck.

Gaara's skin was pale too, Naruto realized. Except…the skin didn't have that wan tint that Naruto's had. It had an almost…_natural_ tint- whatever that was. It was almost like…_silk_. It shimmered in its paleness, and reflected the neon white lights that adorned the hospital ceiling. The blonde felt a strange urge to touch that small patch of skin- If only just to prove his theory of it feeling like silk…pure _white_ silk-

_Naruto frowned. Then he glared at the exposed skin on the redhead's neck. It was a beautiful patch of skin, he decided. And Gaara, with skin only a few shades from Naruto's would certainly brighten a room. There was no doubt about that. Naruto's eyes narrowed. How did the redhead do it? Hell, how did Naruto do it in high school? How do you brighten a room with your presence?_

Shaking his head, he forced his eyes away from the pale patch on Gaara's neck and looked back down at his hands, only now they were clenched in tiny fists. Naruto glared at them. Ugly little things. Ugly, tiny, pathetic little things.

_Pathetic ugly ugly pathetic PUNY like you you you-_

Naruto's eyes widened. _Shit_. He was going backwards. That was _unacceptable_. He wasn't going to let that voice take over again- He _couldn't_ let that voice take over again. Never again. He unclenched his fists and took a deep breath, slapping both of his cheeks for good measure. He had to snap out of it. He had to _relax_. No more stupid thoughts. He would go back to attempting conversation again. Yeah….that was good…It took his mind off things…Although a better conversation partner would have been greatly appreciated, he had to make do with the redhead.

Straightening his back and lifting up his head, he opened his mouth to speak. "Hey, Gaara.", he spoke loudly, and firmly, as if he knew exactly what he was going to say and exactly how he was going to say it, and would stop at _nothing_ to let the words escape his mouth…

…Except…Naruto _didn't_ know what to say….or how to say it…and the only thing that could escape his mouth as the redhead stopped walking and turned ever…so…_slowly_ to face the blonde and set those… those _penetrating_ green eyes at the him was, "G-…uhhhh…" Naruto found the words stuck in his throat. Then again…were there even words to begin with? What was he planning on saying to the redhead? He had nothing. He wasn't going to say anything. He was just acting on a whim- Stupid, stupid, _stupid_, as always.

Gaara was looking at him- and they were so close…Not that they haven't been close before…but Naruto's senses were fully aware this time, he wasn't going through a panic attack…he wasn't high on anything, and all of this contributed to Naruto's knowledge of the fact that he was in so much _shit_ right now. He and Gaara were face to…well- _chest_, but Naruto tilted his head enough to look into the redhead's eyes. Naruto licked his lips. Again, how did the redhead do it? Every time Naruto faced him, his world went into slow motion. His thoughts were slurred- hell even his movements were slurred and the redhead only accented his discomfort when he moved so painfully _slow_.

"I-I…uh…er-" and now he was stuttering like a fool. Flustered now, Naruto looked away and nervously smiled at the down at the floor, sheepishly rubbing the back of his head. "I…" he searched for something to say- anything to say. "I- u-uh…" Come on Naruto think- THINK. "I-I n-need to…usethebathroom!" he sputtered out.

…

As soon as the words escaped his mouth, he inwardly smacked himself again and again…and again (for good measure). How could he be so-? What the hell was he-? Of _all_ the things to say…

Naruto warily let his eyes trail to meet green ones…Gaara was still looking at him expressionlessly- but Naruto knew better now. All he had to do was wait for that _shift_. He had to wait for that tiny, _tiny_ movement behind Gaara's eyes that showed that the redhead was at least considering it…—

Ah, there! Naruto almost smiled at this new discovery. He watched with expectant eyes as that small shimmer flickered through Gaara's eyes and held his breath when the redhead blinked, turned his eyes silently away from the blonde and began to walk around Naruto, towards the opposite direction. Naruto frowned at this. Did that mean that they were going to the bathroom? SAY SOMETHING, he wanted to scream. With a small frown he followed the redhead, tempted to ask whether or not they were actually going to the restrooms…but then he decided against it- lest he sputtered out something stupid again.

As they walked back down the long hallway, Naruto began to feel bad. They were practically a step away from Naruto's hospital room, but the blonde had to go ahead and say something stupid. Naruto wondered if he was annoying the redhead. He only seemed to cause trouble for him. With shame plastered on his face, he followed the redhead back down the hallway. Jeez, he thought. Maybe attempting conversation wasn't a good idea. He didn't feel like he was making progress anymore. He was only causing problems for other people. Speaking was out of the question, Naruto thought sullenly, but he had to at least apologize, "I-I'm sorry."

Gaara didn't reply, and without his eyes facing Naruto, the blonde couldn't tell if the redhead heard him or not. Naruto pouted childishly. He was hoping he'd get the redhead to say something. He hadn't spoken since Naruto had gotten off the phone with his grandmother.

At the thought of his grandmother, Naruto sighed. _Poor baa-chan_, he thought. It had to be hard for her- having a useless grandchild and all…

Naruto shook his head. Come on, Naruto- happy thoughts, _happy_ thoughts. Then he inwardly sorted. Happy thoughts? _What_ happy thoughts? Anything _happy_ he could think of was probably a thing of the past, and if it's a thing of the past, that meant it wasn't happening anymore, which meant the happy times were over, and they would probably never happen again, and that's because he was a _stupid_ idiot andandand and…and….and Naruto was thinking unhappy thoughts again, wasn't he?

Ha, ha. Maybe he was crazy?

Gaara stopped walking suddenly and turned to watch him, arms lazily hanging from his sides as he steadied his gaze. Naruto gulped. He contemplated telling Gaara that he didn't have to use the bathroom after all, but thought against it quickly.

The two looked at each other for an awkward moment before Gaara moved. Naruto, startled, jumped a bit under his skin, but hissed at himself when he saw Gaara's arm only moving to open the door. He extended his arm overhead so that the blonde would be able to pass under.

Naruto blinked. He paused to stare at the man for a while before he opened his mouth to speak. "U-uhm—" He was just spitting _geniusness_ today, wasn't he? Again there were no words that could come out of the blonde's mouth.

Something shifted inside Gaara's eyes, and Naruto figured if the guy had eyebrows they would probably be showing some sort of mockery.

"This is the bathroom."

Naruto jumped. He _speaks_.

Naruto looked at the door. Indeed, there was a large MEN sign on the top. Then he looked like Gaara again. "S-so it is…"

"You will use the bathroom."

Naruto's eyes widened the slightest bit of a fraction before he adopted a taken aback look. Was that an _order_?

As if hearing his mind, the redhead opened the door wider for Naruto, inclining his head to the right to encourage him.

Naruto opened his mouth to speak again, but then he closed it before he said something utterly stupid again. He held his head downcast as he walked timidly into the bathroom, offhandedly wondering if Gaara, as a policeman, would follow him.

The redhead didn't.

Naruto sighed tiredly as the door finally closed, and collapsed against the wall. He didn't feel dirty on the floor, which was natural as he'd lived in dirtier bathrooms in the past. Naruto lazily moved his eyes to gaze at his surroundings. It was actually a clean bathroom—cleanest one he'd ever seen besides the one at his Grandma's suite.

He sighed again, and put his head in his hands. It had been such crazy week. He got dumped by Sasuke, he had sex for drugs for the first time, he overdosed on a staircase, he almost killed a dog, he met the weirdest policeman in the world, he was beaten up at a convenient store, he collapsed in the store, he was taken to the hospital, he was interrogated by a policewoman, he had an epiphany, he spoke to his grandmother for the first time in years, and he was now on the hospital's bathroom floor supposedly using the bathroom while the redhead policeman waited for him outside.

Well.

If that wasn't crazy he didn't know what was.

His butt began to hurt after sitting on the hard floor for so long, so he tiredly stood up. His eyes landed on the mirror in front of him. He scowled. Gods, he was ugly. Naruto made a show of snarling at his reflection before he turned away quickly…only to turn back again. He fought with himself as he walked closer to his reflection in the mirror, so close that he was leaning against the sink and looking into the pale blue eyes, those chapped thin lips, those sickeningly gaunt cheeks, and that near white hair. Naruto placed both hands on the side of the sink and stared at his reflection.

This was it. This was the reason. _This _was why he had to change. Those eyes, those lips, those cheeks, that hair, his _face_—it had to go back. He had to become the boy—the _man_, Baa-Chan had always wanted him to be. He had to become the man he couldn't be for Sasuke, the man he couldn't be for Kiba, the man he _failed_ to be for himself. He had to change. He _would_ change. It was only a matter of time, and effort, and _progress_. But he would do it.

Naruto nodded at his reflection. Then he smiled. He smiled _that_ smile. Genuine—_real_. And it wasn't blinding and bright as it used to be, but with a toothbrush and toothpaste he would work wonders with that smile again.

He stepped away from the mirror with that in mind and proceeded to walk out of the bathroom.

He found Gaara waiting across from the door, his head downcast, arms crossed over his chest and leaning casually against the wall. He looked up ever so slowly when Naruto came out of the bathroom. Naruto blushed when his eyes met his and thought, in horror, of how long he'd been in the bathroom. If anything, the redhead probably thought he was taking a crap. Naruto felt his face heat up dangerously at the idea. He dared to look at the redhead once more, but Gaara only pushed himself lightly off of the wall and started walking in the direction of Naruto's room again. Naruto followed with another sigh.

They continued to walk in near silence, with only the sounds of Naruto's pattering feet, and Gaara's graciously soft footsteps. With each room they passed, Naruto could hear the soft beeping of the machines, the rare screams of the patients, the low snores of visitors, and the incessant mumbling of the nurses.

Naruto decided he hated hospitals. No, wait. He couldn't hate anything now, could he? The old Naruto didn't hate anything, or at least, he didn't think the old Naruto did. But it didn't matter now. Naruto didn't only want to go back to what he used to be, he wanted to be better. No more hating things just to hate them.

Naruto almost smiled to himself. He was on a role here. All these positive feelings were rushing through him like tidal waves during the summer seasons back at Tsunade's private beach.

There was so much he could do now that the drugs weren't the only things on his mind. So much.

Lost in his thoughts, he didn't realize when the man in front of him stopped walking, and Naruto bumped right into him. He made a small sound of surprise and stumbled backwards, but a firm grip on his shoulder caught him before he could fall.

The blonde laughed nervously. "Ah, ha ha—T-thanks."

The redhead nodded his head without looking at Naruto and opened the door they'd stopped in front of. It was Naruto's hospital room. Naruto wrinkled his nose in childish in distaste as he stepped inside with Gaara following suit. The redhead immediately took his spot by the wall and leaned his head onto it, dimming his eyes until Naruto couldn't tell whether or not they were open.

Another minute passed and Naruto found himself still staring at the redhead, several feet away from him. When Gaara shifted his foot, Naruto started, soundlessly, thank god, and ripped his eyes away from the redhead. The blonde almost cursed himself for his social helplessness. His face red, he marched towards his bed to sit. As he climbed the somewhat hard mattress, he noticed that he'd been barefoot this entire time. Hmm. Naruto took a look at his feet. They were dirty. Crud hung underneath his toenails and the skin around them was peeling. Even the skin at the bottom of his feet looked about ready to shed. His feet were also a sickly white color, especially in this fluorescent hospital light.

Naruto wrinkled his nose. This was another thing to add to his list. Fix his feet. Yeah. That was a plan. He'd start as soon as he got home. Naruto grunted when he tried to reach his toes without bending his knees. His fingers couldn't even reach his ankles, much less his toes. Naruto could remember a time when he was exceptionally flexible. He wondered what happened to that…With another grunt he tried to reach his toes without bending his knees. His face scrunched up unattractively and his eyes squinted closed as he practically bounced back and forth in the attempt to reach.

He might have been doing it for minutes, or maybe hours, but when Naruto's middle finger grazed his big toe, Naruto could hardly contain the loud sigh of content that escaped his lips.

That was, until, his eyes inadvertently traveled to the corner of the room, where two very green eyes were staring steadfastly into his.

Oh, Shit.

Naruto could swear he let out a sort of a desperate, gasping noise. What the hell was supposed to do now? The redhead was relentless in his staring, and he could swear that those turquoise eyes were narrowing into a glare—

"I—I.." Naruto looked everywhere but Gaara's eyes. Come on, he thought to himself. Say something. "I've—I'm—my—"

His eyes wandered everywhere in the room. The I.V, the cabinet, the walls, the floor—

"I'm—"

—the chair beside his bed.

"Would you like to sit?" Naruto blurted. And then he wanted to shoot himself. Naruto almost banged his head against the wall behind his bed. What the hell was wrong with him? Why couldn't he say the right things anymore? He didn't even bother looking at the redhead. Zeus knew what he would find there, on his face. Ridicule, confusion, disgus—

"Alright."

Naruto's heart felt like it just tumbled out of his chest. His eyes snapped up to the redhead standing in the corner… Only he wasn't standing in the corner…he was walking towards the bed.

Naruto's eyes went wide. He could barely function properly when the redhead was in the far corner of the room, how was he supposed to get anything done when the redhead was sitting right in front of him?

Gaara took slow and steady steps as he walked towards the bed. They seemed calculatedly aloof and unpracticed. The redhead was a paradox in himself. Naruto liked that.

What he _didn't_ like was the fact that Gaara was now hovering over the bed, and leaning down to take a seat in the metallic chair beside Naruto's bed. The blonde wanted to scream. They were now less than five feet away from each other—and could Gaara's eyes be anymore steadfast? He looked at Naruto with a steady calm that unnerved and fascinated the blonde. Mostly unnerved.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Naruto breathed. And then he pinched himself, because that was stupid question to ask, and because he was an idiot, as always.

He looked at Gaara with eyes so wide and apologetic that he began to tear when a small gust of wind blew into his eyes.

Gaara sat there, taller than Naruto even when sitting down, with eyes passive, bored—seemingly unconcerned about the events that played around him. Then Naruto saw Gaara's eyes shift with something subtly akin to inquiry.

Naruto held his breathe. The redhead was getting ready to speak.

"Uhm!"

Naruto's head snapped towards the door to find a pint sized woman, shorter than he was (and that was pretty short) peeking into the room with a clipboard and a police outfit that hugged her pregnant body in a strange way.

"A-ah." She said with a blush. "Gaara-san."

If possible, Naruto's eyes grew wider.

The woman in the doorway stepped all the way in and Naruto narrowed his eyes. Did Gaara know this woman?

"Gaara-San." she said again with a nod. "I haven't seen you all day."

Gaara surprised Naruto by standing up. "Hinata." he nodded his head and walked over to her. Naruto couldn't help but notice the way his gaze kept drifting over to the woman's large stomach, hardly ever looking into her eyes.

The woman laughed. "Just a few more weeks to go." she said with a smile. Naruto held a breath when the small woman put both hands on Gaara's shoulders and supported herself up to kiss him on the cheek. She had to jump a bit and this would've made Naruto laugh if it wasn't for the fact that his heart was trying to jump out of his throat at the moment.

He didn't know why. He supposed it was the shock. Or maybe disappointment. He thought Gaara would be more of an enigma of a person than to have a relationship of any kind.

When the pretty little woman took her paws off the redhead, she turned to Naruto. "H-hello, Uzumaki-san." she said walking towards the bed. "Ino wanted me to tell you that we received confirmation, from your grandmother, that you are of legal age to sign your release forms." she smiled sweetly when she finished and handed Naruto the clip board. "Please sign here...here...and here."

Naruto nodded his head stiffly as he took the pen hanging from the clipboard to sign his name in the nasty scrawl that was his signature. When he finished, the woman nodded with another smile before leaving his bedside and going back to the door. She smiled at the redhead before reaching the door. "Oh!" she said before stepping out. "Ino said to uh...bring your-" she blushed, "_ass_ back to the precinct." she gave the redhead a somewhat apologetic look before exiting the room.

Again, a loss of someone only made Gaara's presence seem almost suffocating. Naruto hesitated but managed to face the redhead. Gaara wasn't looking at him; instead he was standing very still, staring behind the door.

Naruto frowned. "Is she your girlfriend?"

The question left him before he could even register it leaving his lips, and when the question was out in the air for the redhead to hear, Naruto wanted to shove the freaking pillow case down his throat and choke to death. WHAT? How could he even—

" No."

It took a second for Naruto to realize that he had his eyes shut tight enough to split his eyelids, and when he did open them, he was startled to find that Gaara was looking up at him, eyes showing that subtle inquiry.

"O-oh." Brilliant, Naruto. Brilliant.

First he felt stupid. Then he felt bad. He was being rude and intrusive. Although it was definitely something the old Naruto would blurt out in the past (he would give himself kudos for that later) it was still wrong to intrude on another person's business like that. Especially on a whim. Naruto contemplated apologizing to the redhead, but to his dismay, the redhead was already looking away, shifting in his feet lightly like a cat getting comfortable on a soft spot.

A small peak at Gaara's shoes and Naruto realized the redhead had huge feet. He imagined they would be very clean and manicured—dainty and fresh while still holding some of its masculinity, because Gaara just seemed nice like that.

It wouldn't make sense to apologize, Naruto concluded out of the blue. Gaara wouldn't even know what he was apologizing for. Besides—

_Crchhh_-

A static sound interrupted his thoughts.

_"Gaara where the hell are you!"_ a static version of the blonde woman's voice blasted from the communicator that Naruto now noticed on Gaara's holster. Gaara, amidst the suddenness of it all, didn't even blink when the blonde woman spoke. He did an odd movement of raising his left arm to see the communicator, but any other sign of recognition wasn't present on his face.

_"Come and get your ass in the car, Gaara- what the hell are you doing? Answer me!"  
_  
Naruto watched with rapt attention as Gaara took the communicator from his holster and pressed a large button.

Before he could speak a loud sarcastic, _"HELLOOOO?"_ screeched from the talkie.

Naruto flinched. Gaara should really get an award for his utter inability to be surprised, he thought with wide eyes. The woman screeched again, and Naruto jumped. He watched as Gaara stared at the communicator in his hands for a few minutes.

"_GAAR—"_

A press of a button and the woman was cut off. Naruto watched as Gaara put the talkie into his pocket and walked towards the door, opened it, and stepped out.

…

…..

He didn't even say goodbye. Naruto ignored the pang in his chest. It was a familiar feeling to have someone forget he existed like that. Naruto could almost remember the time when the ignoring began. The time where people stopped opening the door for him, stopped saying good morning, and stopped smiling at his bubbly face as he extended his hands for money.

Naruto frowned. During times like this...when he was down and emotionally hurt, he had to ask himself- what would the old Naruto do?

Naruto wrinkled his nose. He would smile. Laugh it off. Shrug it off his shoulders. Live.

Naruto decided to try that.

**

* * *

**

Naruto sighed as he tried to open his eyes. He'd fallen asleep…which was definitely not the _best_ thing to do in a room as bright as this place was. When he opened his eyes he had to close them again immediately, and even then all he was met with was the orange of his eyelids. He'd also had a dream about the sun burning him alive. Go figure.

Naruto put his hands over his eyes as he sat up from the bed. He squinted at the machinery beside the bed, hoping one of them told the time. None did. With a sigh, he leaned back into the chair.

He paused.

_Wait._

He turned his head to look at the machines again. They were all off. He frowned. He fell asleep to the beeping of the machines. Did someone come in and turn them off?

Naruto sat up again and looked at his hand. The wire that connected to his thumb wasn't on him either...He thought the doctors would come in and put it back on for him while he slept…

Suddenly unnerved, Naruto turned to get off the bed. He would go into the hall and check to see if anything was going on. Maybe the hospital was in some kind of crisis, or maybe everyone took a lunch break? Maybe while he was out there, he could get something to eat. With a plan, he hopped off the bed to open the door.

The door opened easily, but when he stepped out, instead of finding the hallway bright and crowded with patients in wheelchairs and nurses, he found the hallway empty. And Dark. _Utterly_ dark.

Naruto blinked. Then he shivered. It was dark, it was cold, and it was _dark. _He could swear he heard somewhere that hospitals were supposed to be open 24/7. So…why…?

A sound alerted him from down the hallways. He jumped what seemed a feet in the air and was startled back into his room. When he stepped inside, however, his room as dark as the hallway.

How did that happen? Who turned off the lights?

He tried reaching for the switch, but he couldn't find one.

"Hello?" the blonde called out, leaning towards the door and peaking out again. All he heard was that noise again. It was like a burp except deeper and without the static of a burp. It was like someone was moaning_, "BAAAAAOOOORRRR". _Naruto shivered again.

What the hell was that?

Instead of staying inside his room like he would've done in any other situation, he found himself stepping out and following the noise.

"BAAAAAOOOORRRR….".

The moaning grew louder and louder with each step and the hallway only became darker. It became so dark that Naruto couldn't see his hand in front of him.

"BAAAOOOOOORRRR—" Naruto stopped in his tracks; that sounded really close.

"_Sigh."_

Naruto jumped a mile in the air. Something just _sighed_ in his ear.

"Hello? Who's there?" Goosebumps were appearing across Naruto's skin, and he squinted his eyes fruitlessly against the darkness. He turned to go back to his room only to realize that he wouldn't be able to find it anyway; the hallway was pitch black.

"_BAAAOOOORRRR."_

Naruto gave out a startled scream. Now the sound was everywhere. He tried to hold in his sob of fear—

"_BAAAAAOOORRRR."_

"What the hell is that!" He screeched hysterically, twisting around in circles in a moment of pure panic.

"_Sigh."_

Naruto screamed again, but this time, he let his voice carry his terror. He screamed and screamed until he could swear he saw spots popping underneath his eyelids. He screamed until his chest felt like it was going implode in on its self. He screamed until—

"Naruto."

The blonde spun around. And in that next instant he chocked and sobbed, and covered his mouth.

There Gaara was, with his eyes torn apart, and his mouth stapled shut.

* * *

"Aaaarggh!" Naruto shot up from the bed. Again, he was blinded by the hospital room, and he screamed.

"_Noooo._"

"Naruto…?"

Naruto's head snapped up. He turned to see an unfamiliar man standing over him, with a notepad. "You had a bad dream." The man mumbled softly. "It's alright now."

Naruto's eyes twitched, and with a sound akin to a choke he struggled out of his sheets.

The man raised an eyebrow. "Hey—"

Naruto had hopped off the bed and ran in front of the door.

"_Hey_." The man called out warningly.

The blonde pulled the door open to find…bright lights, white walls, patients in wheel chairs, and nurses in cloaks. Naruto sank to his knees. It _was_ a dream.

Then he put his hand to his mouth a vomited.

He heard something like a sigh of frustration from the man before he felt a hand on his shoulder and fingers brushing back his hair. "Damn it, I knew you'd be troublesome the moment I saw you."

Naruto gagged a bit more into his hand before coughing violently.

"Damn it…" sighed the man harshly before he pulled back from the blonde. "I knew it…I knew it."

Naruto made a pathetic wet sound before looking behind him to see the man. The first thing he noticed was his police uniform. Then he noticed the spiked brown hair. And then he noticed the lazily glare the man was giving him.

Naruto wiped his mouth his arm. "Who…who are you?"

The man sighed heavily and leaned back on one of his feet. "The name's Shikamaru." He said with a tired scratch to the back of his head. "I'm your…uh…escort, to the station."

Naruto only frowned in confusion.

The man sighed again and shook his head. "Jeez. Fine, I'll say it differently." He said with a shake of his head. "You've been released. Your papers went through, and now you've got to come with me to the station so we could get you finger prints, I.D, Address, blah, blah,blah—listen, you're awake now. I've been waiting two hours for you to. So can we just not waste any time and just get the hell out of here. Damn it—it's my lunch break for Pete's sake…"

Naruto blinked up at the policeman before he attempted to stand. He saw the man move to help him, but he shook his head and got up on his own. "I don't…" he started softly. "I don't have any clothes…" he finished.

The spiky haired man rolled his eyes. "You think we haven't already taken care of that? Jeez."

Naruto frowned. He didn't really like this man.

Said man was looking through his notepad with a large frown on his face. "So your name's Naruto, huh?" he mumbled to himself. "Ino wrote in here to be careful 'cuz you're some kind of crack head…" the man chuckled.

Naruto seethed inside. "I'm not—"

"I know, I know…" the man said with a small smirk. "Ino likes to over exaggerate."

Naruto's offended look softened a bit.

"Say's here to call Dr. Ka...bu...to." the man squinted at the notepad. "Man, did this woman ever take penmanship classes…?" he hissed to himself before shaking his head. Then he looked up. "Alright, kid. Wait here while I fetch the doctor. We'll bring your clothes and stuff so you can dress, then we can all go to the station." He paused to look at the trembling the blonde. "Is that okay with you?"

Naruto stared back at the man for several moments before giving him a jerky nod. The man nodded back at him curtly before turning for the door. He paused to swear at the mess Naruto made on the floor.

"Hey. Lady." The policeman said to a nurse in the hallway. "Clean this up, will you?"

Naruto watched the nurse give the spiky haired man a dirty look before he could walk away. The woman looked at the blonde then, with a scowl saying she clearly didn't want to clean the mess he made, but instead of cursing him out like he was sure she would, she simply grumbled and stalked down the hall. Naruto blinked. Then he allowed himself a small smile of amusement.

* * *

Naruto shifted in the car chair. When was the last time he'd been in one of these? Even the leather was unfamiliar, and the wind in his face was exquisite. He hadn't felt this comfortable in a long time even with the scratchy clothes he had on him. They were hand me downs, which he was used to, but the juxtaposition from the paper thin hospital gowns to the thick heavy scratchy sweater and pants was a bit too much. Naruto could handle a bad thing after a bad thing, but to have a bad thing after a good thing didn't sit well with him.

Shikamaru, the police officer, told him that he had to sit in the back of the car with cuffs on because he was still technically under arrest. Naruto had no problem with this as he could still sit by the window and feel the wind blowing through his hair. It was a warm wind, which was strange during this time of year, but Naruto wasn't going to complain.

It was fifteen minutes into the car ride that he heard the familiar staticky sound again. He half expected the blonde woman to scream through the speakers again, but instead he heard a man's voice. It was low and calm, and held an air of amusement.

"Nara."

Naruto couldn't see the police officer through the grills that shielded him from the back seat, but he heard his sarcastic reply.

"And to what do I owe this pleasant call?"

The man on the other line chuckled. "Do you have Naruto?"

Naruto jumped a bit at his name. But he supposed he had nothing to be surprised about.

"Yeah, I got the kid."

Why did everyone insist on calling him a kid?

"Good, good. But I'm going to need you to a favor for me."

"_Sigh_, what's that?"

"Choji's car broke down a few miles south of Demota Park. Can you pick him up?"

"He can take a cab!"

" He's got a guy in the car..."

Naruto heard the man sigh empathetically again. There was another staticky sound and Naruto saw a blur of movement from the front. He suddenly couldn't hear the man on the other end anymore, he could only hear Shikamaru's reply.

"Near the _highway_? What do you mean near the highway!"

Another sigh. "Of course you were going to the donut shop. Of _course_. Maybe you should pay more attention to the tank in your car rather than the tank in your stomach Choji. _Damn it_, and it's my freaking lunch break—whatever; I'll be there in six minutes."

There was clicking sound and the police man inclined his head to the back seat. "We're going to take a little detour." he said, annoyed. "And we're going to have ourselves some guests."

Naruto didn't know what the man was talking about, and he raised an eyebrow when the policeman made a U-turn and exited out into the highway nearby. Naruto had no complaints though. The highway was practically empty and the officer drove with a speed that made the wind whip gloriously at his hair.

Naruto closed his eyes and breathed in the air. When was the last time his city smelled so fresh? He was used to the tar of the cement, the smoke of the factories and the booze of clubs but this…this felt all new to him. Why the heck did he stay cramped up at Kongata or that crappy apartment building, when he would have had a much better time here? He was practically homeless most of the time anyway—it would do him good to crash underneath this highway then in that closed hot stinky area by his neighborhood.

Before the blonde knew it, the car was easing to a stop. The wind blowing through his dirty hair stopped and he frowned at the driver's seat. He heard the rustling of seatbelts and watched through grilled vents as the pony tailed man stepped out of the vehicle. "Stay put." He heard the man mumble, and he left his car door open as he walked ahead.

Naruto moved to the other side of the car to lean out that window instead. He leaned his head out of it, and watched as the policeman, his policeman, walked towards another police car. The police car to that door opened, and a very heavy set man came out. Naruto couldn't hear what they were sating. But the large man had a big smile on his face, while his policeman carried an annoyed expression. They spoke for a few moments, with the large man laughing sheepishly and the Shikamaru person shaking his head. Naruto squinted when the large man kept pointing at his back passenger seats as if gesturing towards something.

Naruto wrinkled his nose. The policeman did say they would have "guests". As if hearing Naruto's revelation, the large man turned to the car and opened the back door. He made a small squat of reflex precaution before pulling someone out from the back seat.

Naruto felt his heart stop.

It was _Sasuke._

He looked angry and disheveled. His hair whipped around with the wind and his eyes_, gods_, his eyes were squinted in such handsome fury—

No.

_No._

Naruto shook his head. Sasuke was history and they were over and they could never get together and they could never be friends and they were never meant to be and it was Naruto's fault and it was Naruto's fault, his fault, his fault, his fault, _my fault my fault my fault_—

There was the sound of a car door opening and Naruto was startled away from the window. He didn't realize he was leaning so far against it, head lolling over to the side so that it tipped over the contraption. Beside him, he could hear the rustling and the large man's voice. "Get inside, please." Despite his situation Naruto still had to raise a brow at the policeman's politeness, but that small sentiment was replaced with horror when the blonde felt the seat beside him seep suddenly.

Sasuke was inside the car.

Naruto gulped. Then he moved farther towards his end of the car. His heart pounded so loudly in his chest that it hurt to try and regulate his breathing.

Sasuke was in the car.

Distantly, Naruto could hear the front doors open. The car seeped a bit lower as the two policemen stepped inside.

"It'll be a short ride, guys." said the large man.

"So don't get _too_ comfortable." replied the pony tailed policeman sarcastically.

There was a bit of laughter in the front of the car but Naruto couldn't care to pay much attention to that at the moment.

Sasuke was in the car.

What should he _do_? Should he turn to him, tell him that he's finally decided to change—for _real_ this time, and try to get back together with him? The hope that built in Naruto's chest suffocated him.

_No_, Naruto thought. He wasn't going to do it. Not now, not when he still had so much work to do, not when he was still such a mess, not when—

"Naruto?"

Naruto tensed so suddenly it appeared more like a flinch or a wince of pain. Sasuke said his name in a light testing way, as if he wasn't sure it was really him. And he probably wasn't, considering the way Naruto shrouded himself as he did. But…Naruto had to show his face now, didn't he? Besides, with him such a better state than he was the last time he saw Sasuke, surely his ex would see that, take it into account, and allow him a chance back into his life. Surely.

Ever so hesitantly, Naruto lifted his head and turned to look at his past lover, the man he shared so many heartfelt nights with, the only person he'd ever deeply fell in love with.

"Naruto." Sasuke whispered in wonder.

Naruto held his breath and offered the tiniest smile.

"You look…" the raven haired man seemed at a loss for words. Then he sat back in his chair closed his eyes and laughed.

He laughed.

He was _laughing_.

"Oh, just my luck." He said with laughter still escaping his lips. "One night at a club and I end up in a police car with my crack head ex boyfriend." He laughed again, softer this time, and looked at Naruto who was already making a move to turn away. "You look like shit, Naruto." Sasuke half whispered. Then he broke into a grin. "What'd you do? Get busted in the bathroom? In the playground? The back of a school?" Sasuke laughed again, so hard that a tear fell from his eyes.

Meanwhile, Naruto had turned back to his corner, head against it, tears threatening his eyes.

Even if Sasuke was drunk as he obviously was. It still hurt.

Gods, it still _hurt_.

His heart was falling apart again, only this time the pain carried betrayal, and hopelessness and _so_ _much_ hate. This is how Naruto would usually feel before he'd use. And right now, he would give absolutely anything to just forget what Sasuke just said. Even if it means breaking the promise he made to himself.

Sasuke continued to speak, and each word, every sentence sliced his chest with that terrible throb of pain

"You know." Sasuke said softly. "Leaving you was probably the best decision of my life, Naruto—"

_Slice._

"Neji's amazing—"

_Slice._

"—and he doesn't use drugs." He smirked at Naruto then, "unlike _someone _I know."

Slice, slice_, slice—_

"He's a little too much into parties…" Sasuke continued. "…but he's a businessman." He laughed again. "This'll be the second time he bails me out for messing things up in a drunken stupor." His smile fell. "My brother's been sentenced." He whispered. "Did you know that, Naruto?"

Naruto didn't shake his head. His heart was pounding in his ears, and could feel it cracking, and breaking. He knew what he needed to fix it—but where was he going to get it?

"He was only sentenced to a few years…" Sasuke continued. "But that was enough," Sasuke whispered. "…for him to blame me." His eyes fluttered then. "It's only the little things." He whispered. Then he growled and shook his head whipping his gaze back at the blonde.

"And it's all _your _fault, Naruto."

Naruto nodded helplessly then, because he knew that. He always knew that. It was always his fault. He knew that. He _knew _that. He didn't bother wiping the tears that began to fall from his cheeks, because it would be useless. He was already at his lowest, and he—

"Look at me, Naruto."

Like a fool, Naruto did. Like a fool, he turned to look at Sasuke with hope in his heart, hope that maybe, possibly, it was only Sasuke's drunkenness that was making him act this way.

But when he turned, he was only faced the raven haired man's glare. Naruto flinched back.

But not soon enough to miss the spit that Sasuke shot his way.

"I hate you, Naruto." Sasuke growled lightly. "You've ruined everything."

"What's going on back there?" asked the large man.

Sasuke moaned loudly and stretched. "When the hell are we getting there?" he drawled leaning back. "It stinks in this car."

Sasuke didn't speak to the blonde for the rest of the ride. Instead he stretched and moaned and complained to the policemen.

Naruto rolled up his window to his side of the door, because it was cold, and he was shivering.

They arrived at the station approximately thirty minutes later. The pointy haired policeman, Shikamaru, took a hold of Naruto and dragged his near limp body into the station while the large man tried to contain the wild and drunk Uchiha.

Naruto let himself be dragged, and didn't complain when Shikamaru stopped in front of the doors of the station and turned to face him.

"What's up with you?"

Naruto didn't hear the concern in the man's voice, he was so far gone.

"I'm not bringing you back to the hospital." said the policeman warningly.

"Shika!" the large man called from the door he was holding open for them.

Naruto's head lolled away from the man and let his head limp once again. He was in such desperate need for something that it was killing him. If he didn't forget now, he would explode. He would do anything to forget right now. Anything.

When Shikamaru started walking with him again, Naruto shook his head. "Need…" he whispered.

The policeman stopped. "What was that?"

Naruto grimaced, and he looked up at the policeman with a look so pained that the man winced. "Need." He whispered. "I _need_ it." A tear fell from his eye and his voice wavered. "Or else I'll explode."

Shikamaru gave him a disgusted look and pulled back. "I guess Ino was right, then." He mumbled while pulling Naruto up the steps, harsher this time.

Naruto let himself be dragged, and put less effort into his steps than before. "Please," he whispered as he got closer and closer to Sasuke who could hear complaining about something at the door.

When they were finally inside, Naruto felt the motions of events blur. They took his picture, they took his thumb prints, they examined him, and then they put him in a cell. He vaguely remembered them saying something about him waiting in there until someone came. He couldn't remember who. Instead Sasuke's words floated in his head.

I hate you, Naruto.

_I hate me too._

_**You thought you could change? Don't make me laugh. You can't change who you are. You can never change who you are. No matter how hard you try, you will always be the same. Pathetic. Useless. Spineless. Only the drugs can help you. **_

_**Find some.**_

Naruto nodded his head to that voice in his head. And it sounded differently now. It was Sasuke's voice. The blonde had to laugh bitterly then, because it was so appropriate.

He wasn't sure where he was, but it felt a lot like the ally way between his building and another where he would crash when he was too high to reach his own apartment. There were four white walls and one small bunk bed. Naruto paid it no mind. Instead he sat in the middle of the cell like box with his knees to his chest.

He contemplated screaming, but decided against it. The more he behaved, the sooner he would leave, and the sooner he could go home, find Zabuza, and ask for more drugs.

It was then that Naruto heard a distant clanking. He looked up and saw bars. Funny, he didn't notice them before. But besides that, he did recognize the woman behind it, smirking evilly at him from behind the bars.

"You have no idea how much joy it brings to see you behind those bars." she said to him.

Naruto frowned up at her. She only laughed. "Shikamaru's told me that you've been acting strange." She said whipping her hair, now falling against her shoulders. "Just a little slip up and you'll be in jail for a long time, Kid." She said smirking. "So. Have you had enough time without your precious drugs to finally let us stick you in a cell for the amount of time you deserv—"

"Enough, Ino."

Naruto jumped at the sound of that voice. It wasn't Gaara's, but it sounded similar.

"Boss." The woman said turning to her left. It was then that another man appeared in front of the cell. He was strange looking, with gray hair and an eye patch over his right eye.

"Hello, Naruto." He said quietly. "I don't think you'll remember me. We met when you were so young after all. I am Kakashi."

Naruto let his eyes go wide. He'd never met anyone who knew him when he was little.

The man chuckled. "Don't be so surprised." He said. "I heard you called your grandmother earlier today. "You didn't think your case would have been handed to someone she didn't know, did you?"

Naruto didn't reply, instead he narrowed his eyes at the man.

The man only continued to chuckle. "We're going to get you out of here, Naruto." He said taking out a pair of keys. "I spoke to your grandmother as well, and although it took a long time to deliberate, we've finally decided how long you will spend your house arrest."

With that, he opened the cell and gestured for the blonde to step out. Naruto hesitated before he stood up. Now that his eyes were open and the bright lights were penetrating his through his vision, he felt a bit more cognizant—less depressed.

He stepped out of the cell slowly, and looked warily up at the two officers standing before him, the woman and the grey haired man.

The man smiled at him. "Follow me to my office." He said pleasantly, and turned around to walk down a long hallway.

Naruto hesitated before he followed the man and looked at his surroundings. He found himself surprised that a police station looked like this. It looked more like a small office with a few cells than an actual precinct. He saw people working at their desks, typing away at the computer, some were laughing with other officers, donuts and coffee in their hands. In the distance, he could see the woman that came into his hospital room, Hinata. She was laughing with another officer looking at a computer screen.

The grey haired man led him inside a large room. The blonde woman had followed him and the grey haired man, and she shoved passed Naruto and took a seat in the front of the room. Naruto stood awkwardly as the grey haired man took a seat in front of a large desk.

"Please, " he said with a smile. "Take a seat." He gestured towards one of the chairs in front of the desk. Naruto sat in one, and stared at the grey haired man.

The man smiled. "You seem genuinely afraid of me, Naruto." He said folding his hands under his chin. Naruto didn't reply. There was silence for a few moments before the man spoke again. "Alright, Naruto. Let's get down to the specifics." The man looked serious now. "You were subject to an inspection by our police officers who, with convincing evidence, have proclaimed your possible involvement in an ongoing case of illegal goods being distributed across the country under false assurance of medical supplies."

Naruto's eyes widened. _What?_

"All you have to say, Naruto, is that you had absolutely nothing to do with that…" the man paused dramatically, "and you're free of all domestic felony charges. You'll be instead charged as a minor, undergoing house arrest for the appropriate time for possession of drugs."

Naruto blinked. "Wh..what?"

He heard the woman scoff beside him. The grey haired man only leaned forward in his chair and eyed Naruto sympathetically. "Just say you're innocent, Naruto." He said quietly. "And we'll just give you house arrest."

Naruto blinked again. He looked at the grey haired man warily, and he looked back to face the blonde woman. He closed his eyes, and exhaled. "I'm innocent."

The blonde woman sighed exasperatingly behind him. The grey haired man only smiled.

"In that case," he said pleasantly. "I'd like you to meet your parole officer. I'm sure you've met him before." The man pointed behind Naruto, and the blonde turned around in his chair.

He held a breath.

There was Gaara. Clad in only his uniform pants and a black wife beater that hugged his body. He stood at the door of the office with his hands still on the door knob. He was just coming in.

"This is Officer Gaara Kaze." The grey haired man said behind him. "He will be supervising you for the next three months—the duration of your house arrest. As you know, Tsuande made amends for your punishment and so you arrest is not limited to your house, but to the city. You are not allowed outside the city premises at any time, and if you are found in suspicion of…"

The man droned on and on, but Naruto could hardly hear him anymore. He was too busy staring at the redhead, who had now closed the door behind him. His hair was tied back in a lazy pony tail and his expressionless eyes looked into Naruto's with that small subtle inquiry.

Naruto couldn't believe it. This man, would be watching him for three months? This man, would be coming into his house, watching him, eyeing him, making sure he didn't do anything wrong, making sure he adhered to the rules, making sure he didn't take any drugs? It was all so overwhelming, and Naruto felt something he couldn't quite describe in his chest. He wondered how he felt about this, about having Gaara, Gaara Kaze, into his home, and…and taking care of him. Naruto realized he was looking forward to it. He was trying to change, he remembered. He was trying to become a better person.

And now he was going to have a little help doing so.

So he sat up in his chair, looked up at the redhead with new found confidence and attempted a small smile.

"H-hi."

* * *

End of Chapter

**Author's Notes**

IM. SO. SORRRYYY! It's been months! It's been _MONTHS_ since I updated this story. And I'm not sure you guys are happy with what's happened in this chapter anyway—But NEVER fear; it's SUMMER time! More updates for all!

Oh man, guys, you have no idea how sorry I am for not updated anything. : (

Anyway,

Story Notes

**12,000 WORDS!**

I have finally UPDATED! But i suppose it's nothing to celebrate since I took so damn long, (Ugh!). But besides that, there are a two key points to this story:

1. Hinata is not related to Neji in my story. I suppose I'll give her brown eyes or something.

2. I'm sure there's suppose to be a court system somewhere in this story, but let's pretend that little detail is unneeded in this story, : )

3. In the beginning of thr story, I made Choji, and Shikamaru one of the freinds that abandoned Naruto. I changed that! : ) Now they're police officers. I didn't want to have to make up my own characters so I brought them back to life. : P

So. Back to the story. I am aware that ALOT happened in this chapter, and at the same time so little did, but I promise, guys, I _promise _that this summer will bring you more, and better chapters, so bear with me! But the thing is, with more frequent updates, it'll mean shorter chapters, like 3,000-4,000 words or so. =/. But I have so much in store for you guys, : )

As for my other stories,_ Light in the Fifth Floor Bedroom_ is coming soon!

I hope you guys haven't totally given up on _Oblivion_, but i totally, totally, understand if you have ^_^' Heh-heh.

Also, please favorite, flame, alert, and review! : )

(Schools Out, WHOOHOO!)


	8. Ha

**Oblivion**

Chapter Eight: _Ha_.

* * *

The awkward silence that followed his small greeting made Naruto blush. "Uh…" he started to say, but stopped when the redhead let go of the doorknob, let the door fall against its hinges with a small click, and nodded.

"Hmm." was his quiet reply.

Naruto didn't know why, but he beamed a little on the inside. He nodded his head hesitantly, and turned to look back at Kakashi. The grey haired man was looking at him with a slightly raised eyebrow. Naruto squinted at him.

Then Kakashi chuckled and shook his head. "As I was saying, Naruto, you will be escorted to your apartment later today. Your belongings will be handed back to you before you go, and of course, Gaara will be the one to take you home. He'll be in charge of checking up on you every day, until he feels it fit for you to go on unsupervised. You are not allowed outside of your home without him, so you'll have to contact him if you want to go anywhere beyond your apartment's block." Kakashi adopted a strict face. "Taking that into account, your parole officer isn't a butler, or a personal escort service. He is there strictly to keep you from violating any of the set conditions, but if you over-use, or abuse him in any way— as many others have in the past to our parole officers, I will be sure to assign you to a different, and stricter one. Like Yamanaka here."

The blond woman smirked at Naruto, but the blonde didn't glance her way. Instead he raised his eyebrows inquiringly. "Abuse?" he asked slowly.

Kakashi nodded. "In the past, others, just like you, have abused our parole officers by forcing them out of their apartments at unearthly hours, or asking them to do ridiculous requests outside of the city or their homes because they're not allowed out..." Kakashi shook his head. "Parole officers have to escort their assigned people everywhere, and on most cases, those people take advantage of them."

Naruto blinked and shook his head. He still didn't understand.

Kakashi smiled at Naruto sympathetically. "Just don't call Gaara at 2:00 o'clock in the morning for, let's say, a morning jog. Keep requests reasonable."

Naruto nodded then, albeit he still didn't really understand. He couldn't imagine anyone having the balls to abuse their parole officer—the person who could just as easily extend your house arrest, he was sure.

Kakashi smiled at him. "In that case, let's step outside, shall we?" The grey haired man stood up from his chair and the blonde woman followed suit. Naruto took that as a cue to stand up from his own chair. He staggered a bit as he did so and blushed when he saw that the redhead saw that. He laughed nervously and turned to walk out the door with the rest of them. Gaara was holding the door open, as he always seemed to be doing, and waited for the blonde to step out before he followed.

Kakashi was walking quickly, and the blonde woman, Yamanaka, stopped and turned to glare at Naruto and check if he was really following behind her.

Naruto decided not to glare back at her, seeing as he _was_ in a police station and doing anything to offend anyone would have a one hundred percent chance of working against him. So he passed by her quietly and tried not to think about the way Gaara was probably right behind him.

They entered what looked like the lobby. Naruto saw the other officers fooling around at their little stations, and he winced when he saw the cell they put him in earlier.

That wince, however, wasn't nearly as violent as the flinch he fell victim to when he heard a voice ahead of him.

"I'm sorry officer, it won't happen again."

"Yeah, yeah, that's what you said the last time I picked you up."

Naruto gulped.

_Sasuke_.

"He won't let it happen again, officer."

_And_ Neji.

Naruto stopped walking _immediately_. There was no _way_ he was going to face those two. Not now, not ever. He was devastated to find that Kakashi was still walking ahead, headed towards an area that would force him to actually pass _through_ his ex boyfriend.

The blonde woman, who had been walking behind him, pushed him ahead. "What the hell are you waiting for? Pick up the pace."

Naruto inwardly cursed. The woman shoved him along, forcing him towards where Sasuke, Neji, and the heavyset policeman he saw yesterday were standing. He put his head down, and pleaded to the Greek gods that the two wouldn't notice him.

"_Naruto_?"

No such luck.

It was Neji who noticed him, the bastard. Naruto kept his head down; maybe if they just kept walking, then nothing would happen and—

"You know these two, blondie?"

But of course it wasn't going to work that way.

Naruto didn't answer, but if he continued to keep his head down, he would only look like a fool, so he casted his eyes to the side instead, showing his profile in an odd angle.

"Well, well, well." said Neji with a small laugh. "What a…_pleasant_ coincidence to see you here, Naruto…" he said with that heart wrenchingly _fake_ smile.

Naruto heard Sasuke grumble. "Let's get out of here, Neji." He mumbled gruffly.

Naruto, despite how vigorously he tried to guard it, felt another big blow to his heart. So Sasuke couldn't even stand to see him, huh?

"What the hell are you cuties in for?" The blonde woman behind him asked in a voice that tried too hard to be inviting.

Naruto didn't have to look to see Neji's smirk. "Nothing, nothing. Just getting my boyfriend out of trouble." He paused then, and Naruto felt a small bout of impending doom fall over him. "…and it seems…we've bumped into his ex."

"_Damn_ it, Neji." Sasuke growled.

Naruto's eyes went wide and he choked on his own spit. Luckily, the blonde woman behind him was too busy spluttering up in surprise to notice his own shock.

"_Boyfriend_?" Naruto felt the blonde woman turn to him "_Ex_ boyfriend?" Then she laughed loudly. "Damn, kid, I'm surprised I didn't peg you for a queer earlier!" she doubled over in some sort of horse laughter. "Everything makes so much _sense_ now!" she exclaimed before pulling the blonde passed the three men, still in hysterics. "I can't wait to tell the girls about this…"

Seeing as nothing could get any worse at the moment Naruto dared to turn his head to look at Sasuke. The raven haired man, unsurprisingly, wasn't looking in his direction. Instead he was glaring at…Gaara?

Naruto blinked. The redhead was walking passed them, with the look he always carried on his face—listlessness. Neji was staring at the redhead with a raised eyebrow and a small smile on his face. Gaara wasn't even looking his way. Naruto found himself noting the way the redhead towered over the two men, he was so tall.

That was when Naruto realized why Sasuke was glaring at the Gaara. Neji was as close as he would ever be to drooling over the redhead, and that was pissing the raven haired man off. Naruto didn't know why, but this made him smile, even if for just a moment. He was smiling more at Gaara's impassive obliviousness, than at Sasuke's suffering he realized.

"Gaara, hurry up and get here." The blonde woman, who was still tugging at him, said. Gaara didn't seem to walk any faster, but he looked up at them. Naruto felt a small shiver crawl up his spine.

"Is there a reason why you three are so far behind me?" it was Kakashi this time. He was peeking out of a door ahead of them. The blonde woman tugged Naruto harder until they were in the room with the grey haired man.

Kakashi waited until Gaara stepped inside the room a half a minute later before he smiled at all of them. They were in a strange looking room. It almost seemed like a storage room with the strange knick knacks that were held on the many shelves. Kakashi turned to fumble through one of those shelves. He pulled out something like a shoe box and handed it to Naruto. "These are your belongings, Naruto. Now I want you to wait in the front with Ino while Gaara gets ready for you. He'll take you home, reacquaint you with the rules, and we'll see how it moves on from there, understand?"

Naruto nodded his head, fingering the box idly. He didn't think he had anything of interest in there except maybe a few clothes and the rainbow colored socks he was surprised to find off of his feet in the hospital the other day.

"I'm sorry, but it seems you won't be able to work out in the gym for the rest of the day, Gaara." Kakashi said with a small smile. "You have a job to do."

The redhead offered the smallest of nods before he stepped out of the room. Naruto blinked after him. Gym? Naruto blushed. That explained the redhead's attire, he supposed.

"Ino, please allow me to speak to Naruto in private for the time being. You can wait for him in the front of the building."

The blonde woman frowned a bit before she nodded her head and exited the room. Naruto staggered when she pushed past him and glared at her retreating back.

"Well, Naruto." Kakashi said, leaning against one of the shelves. "It seems you've had quite the week."

Naruto chose not to nod his head.

"I know you don't…remember me, at all, but I want you to know that you can trust me—no matter what. I've been at the other side of your grandmother's fists too many times to try anything but my _best_ to keep you safe—do you understand, Naruto?"

Naruto's eyes narrowed at the grey haired man before he nodded his head.

Kakashi smiled. "Now…" he said softly. "The only reason why I'm bringing this up again is because….well…there is still the matter of what you were being previously accused of." He looked up at Naruto with serious eyes then. "The drugs, Naruto. Boxes of them—_boxes_ of them, Naruto, are said to be located right here in this city." He shook his head sullenly. "Do you have any idea the _damage_ that that amount of drugs can cause to one city? Do you, Naruto?"

Naruto gulped down a wad of phlegm that was forming over his throat.

"We know that you know who sold you those drugs, Naruto. We _know_, that you know. So just tell us. You've already been cleared of all charges. No harm can be done to you."

Naruto looked at the man doubtfully. And he didn't know what possessed him, but he asked, "Wh…what about my friends?"

Kakashi's eyes narrowed. "What do you mean, Naruto? Are you saying that friends of yours are the ones who—"

"No!" Naruto replied quickly. "I just…what if…someone is …hurt…?"

He knew Kakashi wouldn't understand, but he couldn't just spill the beans the way Kakashi wanted him to. He had to protect Haku... and Zabusa too, because Zeus knew that Haku would destroy himself if that man was hurt.

"I'll tell you what," Kakashi said quietly. "I will give you time to…protect your friends, but we need those drugs, Naruto." Naruto started to shake his head, but Kakashi put his hand up. "I hate to have to put you through this Naruto, and I know that you don't really understand how serious the situation is, but your cooperation is dire." He gave Naruto a serious look and narrowed his eyes. "I can't guarantee the safety of your friends, but I will give you time. That's the most I can offer you, because Tsunade already has sent her own squad hunting down the people who almost cost you a decade of prison."

Naruto gulped.

"Gaara is your parole officer for this reason exactly. He will help you to uncover the culprits behind the drug theft, and he won't tattle like Ino or the others would. Gaara is…different. I'm sure you've realized that by now."

Naruto's eyes widened a bit. What did Kakashi mean by different? Was Gaara some sort of…undercover cop? He blinked. Nah.

"What do you mean by…different?" he asked quietly.

To his surprise, Kakashi smiled at him. "Don't worry about it. Just know that you can tell Gaara…just about anything." His smile widened a bit, and he walked passed Naruto to open the door. "I'll lead you over to the entrance of the building. I'm sure Gaara is already there, waiting." He held the door open for Naruto. When the blonde stepped out, he had to follow the quick steps of the grey haired man towards the front of the station.

When they arrived, he found the surroundings vaguely familiar. This was the exact area where he was practically dragged by the spiky haired policeman because he was in such dire need of drugs. Naruto shook his head. If it was that easy to fall under the influence, how the hell was he going to survive these few months under supervision? But then the blonde huffed a puff of confidence. He was still going to do it, he told himself. He was going to becoming clean again, no matter what. Besides, he had Gaara to watch him, right?

Said redhead was standing by the entrance doors like Kakashi predicted he would be, only this time he wore his uniform. He wore them offhandedly, like he usually did, with the jacket open, and the hat on the holster of his gun. He looked up and straightened himself slightly when he saw Naruto and Kakashi walk towards him.

"Alright, Gaara. He's all yours." The grey haired man said with a smile at the redhead. Kakashi sped up ahead of Naruto and put a hand on Gaara's shoulder. Naruto paused, as it seemed Kakashi was whispering something to the redhead. Gaara's brows furrowed slightly, and he nodded another one of his small nods before the grey haired man pulled away. Then Kakashi turned to smile at Naruto. "Alright, Naruto." He said with a nod. "I'm sure we'll see each other soon." Then he narrowed his eyes, "Don't forget what I told you…"

He gave the two one last nod before turning away and walking towards what Naruto presumed to be his office.

Hmm…Now what?

Naruto turned around to face Gaara. The redhead was standing by the entrance, holding the door open and eyeing Naruto with those listless eyes of his. Move, Naruto, _move_. The blonde walked out of the police station with quick steps. The redhead followed him out and started to walk ahead.

Naruto sighed at the sight of the redhead's broad back. He clutched the shoe box that Kakashi gave him tightly, as he felt a bit of a chill in the air. He walked aimlessly, so he was surprised when he found himself already standing in front of a car. Naruto blinked. It wasn't a police car. It was more like a regular Sudan. There were no markings on it that would indicate it to be any federal car, but it did have a strange sticker in the wind shield that wrote MR M in bold letters. Naruto's eyes squinted at that. But then he shook his head.

Gaara was unlocking the door to the car. When he did unlock it, he looked up to see Naruto on the other side. Naruto was so short that only the top of his eyes could see over the car. He eyed the redhead for a few moments before he blinked back shyly, and reached to open the door to the car. Unsurprisingly the door to the car opened, and Naruto paused before entering.

Did he have to sit in the back like he did with the police car? He looked up at Gaara again, but the redhead was already sitting in the driver's seat. With a small 'screw it' in his head, Naruto just took a chance and sat in the front of the vehicle. It wasn't a police car anyway. And he was cleared of all charges so there was no reason for him to sit in the back.

He closed the door to the car timidly and stared ahead awkwardly.

Well, then. Naruto was fining it a little difficult to breathe; Gaara, the police officer, was sitting right next to him. They were less a foot apart. Naruto gulped. Then he smiled nervously. Then he stopped _that_ as soon as possible, lest the redhead thought he was some sort of deranged fool.

There was no movement in the car for a long time. The redhead didn't put the keys into the ignition, he didn't even adjust himself in the driver's seat. He just sat there. When an entire minute passed, Naruto dared to turn his head and look at the redhead.

Naruto's eyes widened when he found polar green orbs staring back at him with an unreadable expression on his face. Naruto started to sputter incredulously, "U-uh- wha-what—"

Then he stopped, because he was being an idiot, and he was shivering, and he was scared, and Gaara was _so_ close. Naruto closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and turned to look at Gaara with what he hoped was calm eyes. "Wha- what is it?"

Gaara blinked slowly at him, and when he raised his large hands, Naruto flinched and blinked back. He had to open them however, when he felt Gaara tugging at something behind him, and wrapping over his chest.

"U-uh…"

The redhead was putting on his seatbelt.

Naruto blinked. "Uhm…"

It only took the redhead a few seconds to fumble with the belt, but to Naruto those minutes lasted hours. Gaara's red hair tickled his forehead, and he could smell the redhead's scent. It was an almost metallic scent…He remembered seeing the redhead buy cigarettes…that might have been the small tinge of metal the blonde sniffed… and Naruto couldn't pick up any unnatural colons in the redhead, so he supposed that slight tang… of oranges? had to be Gaara's natural scent. Naruto found himself taking a deep breath. It was like the redhead was a breath of fresh air; all his smells were so…organic…fresh…_natural_.

Naruto shook his head. He had his arms raised awkwardly, unconsciously granting the redhead easy access to the belt.

When it was over, the redhead pulled back with the same impassive look in his eyes, only he was facing the windshield and putting on his own seatbelt. He put the keys into the ignition and the car flared to life with a low rumbling sound. And then….they were waiting again.

Naruto squinted at a space ahead of him, not wanting to look at the redhead again, lest he embarrassed himself by doing something…he didn't know yet, he just knew it would be embarrassing. So instead of looking, he opted for asking instead.

"Uhm…wh-why are we…" he paused then, and shook his head. If anything he was looking even stupider by just sitting there looking steadfastly ahead. So he took a chance and turned to look at the redhead. Gaara was looking right back at him. Naruto resisted the (very strong) urge to gulp and look away. "Wha-why are we still…here?" he asked tentatively.

The redhead blinked back at him owlishly before he spoke, and when he did, it was like a coat of cold air was washing over the blonde. Naruto had to shiver a bit and pull back. How did the redhead _do_ that? And what he was saying was so simple—there was nothing special about it, then why, oh, why did those few words make Naruto shiver in his seat and close his eyes?

"The car. It has to warm up."

Naruto opened his eyes, with an effort, before he could really digest what the redhead had just said. Then it hit him. "O-oh…h-haha. I see…" Naruto nodded his head slowly, and smiled nervously at Gaara before he turned to look at the front of the car again. Well, then. He succeeded in making him look like a fool again.

"And," the redhead continued in that cool voice that made Naruto all but melt in his seat. "I don't know…where you live…" The redhead drifted off then, and from the corner of his (trembling) eye, Naruto could see the redhead turning his head to face the front of the car, and put his hands on the wheel.

"O-oh." Naruto said lamely. He was too busy trying to pick himself up again. Gods. When they were this close, Naruto wouldn't have been surprised if the redhead's voice could coat the interior leather with ice, it was so smooth. The blonde tried to collect himself as fast as he could; he didn't want the redhead waiting for him too long. So he sat up in his chair for the second time and blinked slowly. "I live…" he looked around idly, but didn't recognize the area at all. "I live in Sonata…" he said slowly. "A few blocks down from Kongata Complex…" he said softly.

In less than a second, the redhead was pulling out of the parking space with a skill that could rival a racecar driver's, and when he finally slipped out, they were on the road towards what Naruto assumed was his apartment building. The redhead drove quickly, yet smoothly, even on the local streets. He zipped past other drivers and avoided pedestrians with an ease that made Naruto catch his breath. More than once they had a close call with some idiot jay walking in the street, but Gaara, with a blank face swerved, dodge, _drifted_, until they made it into the highway.

By the time they reached the highway, Naruto was already sinking in his seat, staring at the road ahead incredulously. He wouldn't have been surprised if his hair was whipped back permanently from the speed. With a gulp, he bravely turned to look at the redhead. Unsurprisingly, Gaara had one hand on the wheel, leaning back, but sitting up in his chair. He stared straight ahead with that distantly present look in his eyes. His lips formed a straight line, and he never jumped (the way Naruto did) when cars would suddenly jump ahead or honk noisily around them.

Naruto had to put a hand over his chest to calm his racing heart when the vehicles all racing around him on the highway were blaring with these mechanical sounds. Music played loudly in some cars, people were arguing in others—it made Naruto's brain scramble. It wasn't like this at all when Shikamaru was driving the car…But then again, it was Shikamaru driving…not _Gaara_.

They were going over some sort of bridge now. Instead of water under the bridge, there was a train parking lot. Naruto didn't know anything like that existed near his building…Speaking of near his building, did Gaara know where he was going? Naruto had never really travelled outside of his neighborhood with a clear head, so he couldn't really tell if they were going in the right direction. He wanted to ask Gaara, but the way he redhead was speeding down the highway with a speed that could rival one of the trains below them, it seemed he knew where he was going.

Ten more minutes into the ride, and Naruto was finally able to relax a bit. He was sitting up in his chair and looking out of the window attentively. He was realizing how much he didn't know about the area around him. Man, he really needed to get around. He felt a bit of a longing when he remembered the wind he felt when Shikamaru's car, and contemplated asking Gaara to scroll down the windows.

He thought hard, but decided against it. He didn't want something to weird to happen again. Naruto was really beginning to wonder what Kakashi meant by Gaara being different. The redhead never _said_ things. He almost…assumed you knew what he was thinking about, and when you failed to realize what it was, he would go out of his way to fix it. He also…seemed not to care much for the rules of a police officer as far as Naruto knew, if the redhead could simply walk past a junkie kicking a dog to death with crystal meth floating in the air around him then there was no way the redhead was a normal police officer.

Wait.

Kicking a dog to death?

Naruto's eyes widened.

The dog.

Holy shit, the _dog_.

Oh, God, oh God—

"O-oh God." Naruto stuttered out loud. He forgot…oh gods, he _forgot_ about the dog. Naruto put his head in hands in despair. Then he looked up again quickly. No, Naruto, calm down. How long have you been gone? The dog had to be alright—right? It's only been…how long had it been? But…even so, Naruto left the dog water. Of course it would be alive, of _course_.

Even with that in his mind, Naruto was on edge. If the dog died, _damn_ it, if the dog freaking died on him, he'd be…he'd be—

**A failure? That's nothing new. Ha.**

Naruto shook his head violently.

No. _No_.

**Yes**. _**Yes**_. **Ha**.

Naruto let his hands clutch his head in panic. This couldn't be happening. This _couldn't_ be happening. Not now. Not with Gaara right there, not when his dog was p-probably de-dea—

_No_.

In another move of panic he pulled at his hair.

His dog was _fine_. It would be _fine_. He wasn't a murderer. He wasn't a negligent monster like his parents were—no, he wasn't like that. His dog was fine, his dog was _fine_. The dog had to be fine, because Naruto had plans for it. He had plans to take care of it, love it, nurture, it, because he was going to be changed man. He was changing. Changing for the better. The dog of a person trying to be good doesn't _die_. It doesn't work like that. His dog was fine. His dog was _fine_.

**It's dead and you know it. **

No! The dog was fine! It was fine! And _alive_! He knew it. He knew it, he _knew_ it was because—because—bec—

**Because what? You're a changed man? Is that it? Ha. Don't make me laugh. Your dog is dead.**

Naruto shivered violently in his seat, but it went unnoticed by the redhead as they were making a swerve towards an exit. Naruto looked up with shaking hands.

This place, he thought, this area…it was familiar. Naruto's eyes widened in shocked impatience. He had to get to his apartment _fast_; he had to get to the dog, he to know that it was safe, and _alive_-

**I'll save you the trip. It's dead.**

He had to make sure his dog was fine. He had to make sure, he had to make _sure_—

Gaara was making a turn into a block that was too familiar for Naruto not to know where his place was. In just a few more turns the redhead would reach his block and he would—

But no. They wouldn't reach there in time. Why was the driver ahead of them driving so _fucking_ slow. He had to get there now! He had to save his dog, he had to make sure—he had to—

**Naruto. **_**Naruto**_**. Your dog is dead. Ha.**

_Stop it! Stoop iit! My dog is fine, my dog is fine—he's alive, he's alive—_

**Alive, Naruto? No. I don't think so. Not when you left him for…how long has it been? A week? Hell, maybe it's been months. Face it, Naruto. Your dog is dead, and **_**you**_** killed him.**

_Please, stop. My dog— _

**Is dead.**

_My dog—_

**Is dead.**

_Please, _please_. Let me say my dog is—_

**Dead.**

Naruto could feel the beginnings of a sob clog his throat. He didn't realize when he started pulling his hair again until his scalp was beginning to ache. But he would deserve every bit of pain, if he were to go up to his apartment and find that the dog was—

**Dead. Ha.**

Please be fine, Naruto prayed silently. Please…_please_…

**I'll tell you what, Naruto.**

_Huh?_

**Maybe you can save him.**

_W-what? How?_

**Take off your seatbelt.**

_Wha…_

**Do it.**

_O-okay._

**Now look up.**

Naruto looked up.

**There's your building, right ahead.**

Naruto nodded his head vigorously. They were approaching his building fast. He could see it in the distance.

**I want you to get out of the car.**

_What?_

**Gaara will be too slow. He'll take his time to get you to your apartment. If you don't jump out of the car now, and run as fast as you can, your dog will die for sure.**

_What?_

**Trust me.**

_But—_

**Trust me.**

_But—_

**Are you a murderer, Naruto?**

_I'm not!_

**Then jump out of the car.**

_But we're getting closer—_

**Jump out of the car!**

_I don't want Gaara to—_

**Your dog is gonna **_**die**_**, Naruto- GET **_**OUT**_**!**

Naruto, in a jerked motion, pulled the door handle and flung himself out of the moving car. In a few fevered seconds, Naruto felt the force push him back dangerously into the ground, and he skidded across the pavement violently before he rolled to a stop near the sidewalk..

"A-ah-ow…"

**Get up Naruto.**

"I-I can't—"

Gaara's car screeched to a loud stop ahead.

**Get up now, Naruto. Get up and run.**

"B-but I can't feel my—"

Gaara's door opened up then.

**You have to **_**run**_**, Naruto.**

"I—"

A foot clad in dark boots stepped out of the vehicle.

**If you run, Naruto. Your dog will be saved.**

"_But I—"_

**I promise.**

"…I—"

**I **_**promise**_**.**

"…"

Naruto braced his hands on the pavement slowly and began to push himself up. There was blood on his elbows, and the clothes they gave him were torn at the sleeves. He didn't know about his face, but he knew he was bleeding somewhere in one of the crevices. His legs were fine.

**Because you have to run.**

Naruto gritted his teeth as he stood. From a blurred distance he could see and hear cars honking and Gaara's tall figure walking—or running, he couldn't tell with so many thoughts running in his and his eyes so blurry— towards him. He had skidded so far, and Gaara stopped his car so far ahead, that he would have to turn back to reach his building now.

**Now, Naruto. Now. If he comes, he'll stop you, and you won't be able to save him.**

Naruto was on his feet now. With squinting eyes he watched a redheaded figure walking—running? towards him.

_**Run, **_**Naruto**_**.**_

Naruto turned and ran. He ran as fast as his feet could take him. He could swear he heard the distant pattering of feet behind him, but he couldn't pay much mind to that at the moment—

He had to—he had to—he had to save his dog.

**Hurry up, Naruto. Or the dog's gonna die.**

_No!_

**He has probably already starved to death.**

_No!_

**Then get there faster. You're too slow. Do you want to be a murderer?**

_No!_

**Oh, you're too slow, Naruto. The dog's already dead, rotting, a nasty carcass on your bed with shriveled up bones, and a hanging open jaw—**

_No, no, no!_

**Puppy guts sinking into his rib cage—**

_NO!_

The speed at which Naruto ran hurt his legs, and his scraped elbows were suffering from blows of the wind against his arms. But Naruto couldn't stop, he couldn't stop running, because the entrance to his building was right there and all he had to do was reach and he would save his—

**Flies floating around him 'cause he's so dead, dead **_**dead**_**—**

"NO! No, no, NO! I'll save him I swear I will, I'll—!"

A grip on his shoulder tugged Naruto back so sharply that if he was in his right mind he would have been right to fear dislocation.

Hands turned him around, and a cold wind blew in his face. He was shivering, and he was shaking, and he realized that tears were falling so profusely out of his eyes, that the figure in front of him was just a red blob of material dangling in front of him.

"What are you doing?"

The voice was tight. Not angry. But tight. No underlying emotion. Just tight. Naruto wished he could see the expression on the person's face. But couldn't worry about that now.

"I.._Please_…"Naruto fumbled pathetically, while trying to pull away. "I have to save…if I don't _go_…" he felt faint then, and he toppled a bit, but the red blob held him up. "I have to save him, red blob, o-or else he'll die. Please. _Please_ let me go…"

There were several moments of silence and with so many tears in his eyes, and his head far gone, Naruto couldn't tell at all if the red blob was getting ready to speak, or if he was angry.

He was surprised however, when the strong hands let him go. Naruto stumbled a bit, before he muttered a thank you to the stranger and ran into his building. He thought he could hear the distant footsteps following him, but that didn't matter.

He ran up his stars, slower than before, because he was tired, and he was starting to forget why he was there in the first place—

**Dead dog.**

_Right._

Naruto sped up the stairs a little faster. Damn it, why did he have to live so far up? He had to stop more than once to catch his breath, and his body was aching so terribly. He feared he would collapse before he reached his apartment—

But wait. The fifteenth floor. He was here.

Naruto ran to his apartment door, turned the knob and found that it was locked. "Damn it!" he screamed in frustration. He had—he had to—

He didn't know what it was, but a force—it had to have been magical, he was sure— from beside him appeared out of _nowhere_ and pushed the door open with a booted foot. The magical source had red hair.

But Naruto wasn't there to pay attention to silly things like that. He dashed into the room and looked around frantically. The bed, the walls, the floor, and the smell—

The smell?

Naruto wrinkled his nose. Then his eyes widened.

_No._

In the corner, on the ground besides his bed was a dark lump of furry flesh curled up in a ball. Unbreathing.

Naruto ran to the figure and crouched down, forgetting the pain in his arms and legs.

_No, no, no._

"N-no…"

The bowl of water Naruto had left was empty and scattered in a corner of the room. The sheet Naruto had wrapped around the dog was flaky and disgusting.

Naruto watched as his tears dipped into the fur of the creature, and he reached over to hold the animal close.

_No….no…y-you said that… if I ran…then…he'd live…_

…

…

**I lied. Ha. **

…

**You're an idiot, Naruto. No living thing will stay alive for you. Not for you. Never for you. Do you know why, Naruto?**

…

**Because you're a failure, Naruto. Ha.**

…

**But I know what'll make you forget all of that. The drugs…The **_**drugs**_**, Naruto…They'll make you forget all about your failure…**

**Find some.**

Naruto screamed.

**Ha.**

* * *

End of Chapter

Author Notes

W-what's this….An _Update_? I actually _kept_ my word? Success!

Story Notes

**7,000 words! **Hmm...that's not exactly smaller than the other chapters...I don't think I can write chapters less than 5,000 words anymore XD.

Alright, I know I have a knack for leaving you guys at crazy cliffhangers, but I'm actually going somewhere this week, and I wasn't sure when I would be able to get back at this story, so I just gave you guys what I had. : ) I hope you liked it.

So anyway, about the chapter. I tried to give a little more insight to Gaara's character…I'm not sure how well I did that—but we have a lot more chapters to figure our favorite redhead out, haha.

But other than that—I'll see you guys in the next chapter?

Later.

Oh, and please review; they make me feel so go0o0d. x]


	9. Kiba

**A.N/ **_Read this_! I'm extremely sorry if this chapter is a bit confusing. Just remember: panicked Naruto is in _italics_, evil Sasuke in Naruto's head is in **bold** and everything else is what's going on in third person—although that may get confusing also, haha ^^"

**Warning**: Lots of crying, fluff, irony, cliché's, drama, all over the place-ness, insanity, confusion, blinking incredulously, and milking. =]

**Oblivion**

Chapter Nine_: Kiba_

* * *

_I'm still running_

_Really fast really fast and i can't stop running because he's getting closer closer he's gotten faster he's gaining on me he's he's gaining on he's gaining on me so i need to run run faster faster faster now because faster now now faster because he's getting closer and I'm so scared (help me) I'm just so scared I don't know what to do with myself me myself me i don't know I don't know what to do i know he'll kill me when he comes he'll kill me when he comes so I have to run run run I have to run faster faster run run to get away from this blonde haired blue eyed freak (help me) freak freaky blonde haired blue fucker keeps chasing the shit out of me (stop it) but I'll outrun him so scared so scared (STOP IT) don't let him touch me I'll do anything I'll do anything ju_st keep me away from my failure.

Because I don't think I can take it anymore.

* * *

He'd collapsed onto the dog.

Blood was soaking into his clothes; the sickness was invading his nostrils. Self hate welled up greedily inside of him.

And he was soaked. In _its_ blood.

Naruto should be the one bleeding. He should be the one on the floor, cringing into a fetal position—_lifeless_.

He hadn't even gotten the chance to name it.

He hadn't even gotten the chance to _name_ it.

That was the worst kind of abuse, wasn't it? Worse than starvation? Worse than beatings, even? To die _nameless_. To die an IT…in the hands of negligent crack headed fool.

He wondered if Kiba would have mercy on him when he met him in the afterlife. He wondered if they had drugs in the afterlife. Preferably heroine. So he could stab himself with the needle in the neck repeatedly when he was done.

Suicide. It smacked him harder than the need for drugs.

It was simple.

It was so _simple_.

Why hadn't he seen it before? Naruto simply didn't _deserve_ to live. All this time, he'd been wondering why he was put on this earth if he was such a failure, and now he knew. He _knew_. The great creator had made a _mistake_. Ha. A _mistake_. And could you blame him? Naruto was a bad seed beyond his control. And these incidents—these deaths—these _failures,_ were a means to end him.

It was so _simple_.

Naruto had to die. All the signs were there. Why didn't he head to them before?

_kill me kill me kill me kill me kill me kill me kill me kill me—_

_Please_.

**Please. Ha. Take him out of his misery.**

And then there were hands on his shoulders.

Naruto jerked hard enough to viciously tear himself from those unknown hands. He wasn't doing it for himself. He was doing it for the person touching him. God forbid his failure was contagious. He would protect everyone around him if he could just…find…the knife…

Naruto picked his face up from the bloodied fur and tried to look around his room for anything he could hurt himself with. Alas, the tears in his eyes wouldn't allow him to. He shook his head viciously.

_no. murderers don't cry._

**Exactly.**

_exactly._

Naruto tried to lift himself up, but found that he could not. He growled, frustrated, then he stopped. It was probably better this way. If he lay there, on top of death, then maybe it would come _to_ him. Maybe death was contagious, like the common cold. Naruto collapsed into the dog again, and sniffed the putrid smell of caked blood.

**And decaying flesh.**

_yes_**.**

**You're a murderer.**

_yes_**.**

**You don't deserve to live.**

_no. _

**So. Kill yourself.**

_i__**…**__i can't find the knife._

**You never had a knife. Use your fingers.**

_my fingers?_

**Yes. dig your eyes out.**

_dig my…_

**Scratch your skin to shreds.**

_my—_

**Drag your nails down your face**

_but i—_

**Are you scared?**

i—

**Or do you think you **_**deserve**_** to live? Murderer.**

_no! never._

**Then—**

"Let go."

Naruto started.

_what?_

**I said to—**

"Let go."

Naruto felt a slight tugging. And then he was suddenly met with darkness. Or was the darkness always there? His eyes were closed? But he couldn't open them. Wouldn't.

**What are you waiting for? Use your fingers and—**

"Let go."

Naruto's eyes flew open. He knew that voice. He knew that voice, he knew it, he—

"Let go."

_who's voice is—_

**What do you think you're doing?**

What _was_ he doing? His fingers loosened on the dark mass of flesh in front of him, and ever so slowly, the voice was pulling the dog away from him—

**No! Grab it. That is **_**yours**_**. He is **_**your**_** death. You **_**will**_** be reminded—you **_**will**_** pay for your failure—**

In a moment of panic, Naruto seized the mass of flesh again, tugging it back into his trembling arms.

"His death is _mine_…" he whispered harshly, ducking his head to envelope himself around the dog again. Hands, rougher than they'd ever been, grabbed his hands.

**No! Don't let him take your failure! Don't let him take away your pain—**

"No!" Naruto shouted hoarsely, his own voice starling him. "He's mine, I—"

"Let go." Calm.

**Don't let go.** Angry.

_i-i-i don't know what to—_

**Don't let go. **Angry, angry.

"Let go." Calm.

"But I—"

**Don't let go. **Angry, angry, _angry_.

Naruto shook violently. He would vomit in a moment. He could feel the bile moving up his throat. He would vomit and that would disgust the voice. The voice would run away. The voice would never touch Naruto again, and the blonde could embrace his failure and—

**Don't let go.**

_i won't let go._

Naruto vomited. It burned his throat like acid, and it was over as soon as it started. His eyes were squinted open enough to see the red-orange liquid splatter lazily into large unfamiliar hands.

**He will run away now.**

Naruto closed his eyes.

**Good job. Now—**

"Naruto."

Naruto's eyes flew open. And he was met with the frostiest glow of green he'd ever had a chance to see up close. They were narrowed, unblinking, piercing, and _not_ angry. They were _not_ angry.

"G-Gaara?" Naruto blinked.

"Let go, Naruto."

Naruto let go.

**NO!**

Then his hands inched to grab it again.

But Gaara gave him a light look, blinking at him owlishly, as if to say _you don't want to do that_.

"I—"

He couldn't find the words.

**No! Take it back! That's your failure to keep! It's yours! It's YOURS!**

Naruto blinked.

_but I don't want it._

…**You don't **_**want**_** it?**

Naruto shook his head no.

It was then that he realized that the redhead was standing up, cradling the stinking mass of flesh in his hands like a child. Naruto stared up the redhead from the floor, tears falling pathetically from his eyes, and in that moment of shear helplessness, with both of his hands extending, still torn as to whether or not to let the dog go or not, a small light shone in the back of Gaara's head, and an unknown wind flew through his hair, and it was that moment that something told Naruto it was alright to let his hands fall limply onto the floor and let go of his failure—

**For now. But you'll see.**

Naruto shook his head violently. Would he, really? He felt a prickle of uneasiness wash over him, and his mouth suddenly felt very dry. He was coming down from his high now and had to hold himself with shaking arms.

It had happened again. His emotions had become so intense that he'd fallen victim to that voice in his head—constantly changing and telling him to do these _things_. Naruto shook his head. It seemed foolish to listen to a voice in his head now, but when he was under the influence of that voice, he had no choice _but_ to listen—everything remotely illogical about the entire thing escaped him, and he was left a trembling, _obeying_ mess.

_Why_? Naruto asked himself helplessly. Why was this happening after he'd spent so long clean? Why did he succumb to these emotions so quickly? Why did he allow himself to be so weak? Naruto grinded his teeth together. It was _unfair_. What more did his body want from him? He wasn't touching the drugs, because it wasn't _good_ for him, but his body was craving it, and giving him these mental issues as punishment for not having his fix. It just wasn't _fair_.

"Get up."

Naruto jumped once again, startled by the coolness of Gaara's voice. He looked up again, finding that same light behind Gaara's head, only now realizing that it was simply the light from his window giving the redhead that effect. Naruto's eyes drifted to the dog lying limp in Gaara's arms, and he felt that familiar pull of emotion over take him again. He knew he'd been crying, but only now could he feel the tears cascading messily down his cheeks, staining the small opening of his mouth and stinging the part where he'd bled from the fall out of the car.

Naruto suddenly felt and urge to laugh bitterly. He'd jumped out a car. He'd jumped _out_ of a fucking car. And for what? To save the dog? Ha. It was pathetic. _He_ was pathetic. And it was all because a voice inside his head told him to do it. Naruto bit his lip and ignored the stinging he caused with that gesture. When the hell was the voice going to be useful and tell him to jump off a building and kill himself? When was the voice just going to take over his body and do the dirty work himself? Naruto seethed inwardly. Why did his life have to be so _hard_? Why did he have to suffer _so_ _much_? Why did something always happen to stop him short of ending his misery? It just _wasn't_ fair—

"Get up."

Naruto started again, but instead of cowering, in his anger he glared up at the redhead. Gaara looked down at him with the same distant look in his eyes, not showing the subtle inquiry, but rather a sort of patience. He was waiting for Naruto again. For what?

"Get up."

Oh. Naruto felt his anger ebb away slightly. He attempted to use his hands to stand up but they spasmed dangerously when he put pressure on them. He faintly remembered having bruised his elbows while tumbling out of Gaara's car.

"I—", Naruto stopped, because, really, what was there to say?

And this pain? Was it really so bad? How could Naruto be complaining about standing up after all that the dog suffered? Naruto couldn't imagine the pain he put it through before it finally died. And there were so many things it could've died from—starvation, blood loss, _namelessness_—

_Gods_, Naruto was a monster.

So he would take the pain. He would endure it, because it was the _least_ he could do after he'd made a defenseless animal suffer so much.

With a grunt of biting pain, Naruto attempted to pick himself from the floor. He began by not trying to add to much pressure to his arms, but then he thought, "why the hell not?" He deserved all the pain. So he pressed hard against the floor with his hands, and let out a strangled noise as a stabbing throb emitted from his wrist to his bleeding elbows. But he endured it anyway, because it was exactly what he needed—what he _deserved_.

He stood up slowly, trying to ignore the sight of Gaara's large boots as he did so, with his head downcast. He found himself realizing that the redhead could just as easily lift up his foot and kick the blonde back onto the floor. Naruto wanted nothing more than for that to actually happen at that moment. He wanted Gaara to kick him back into the ground and kick repeatedly until Naruto was a bleeding mess on the floor, just like his dog was.

He didn't pick his head up when he finally stood up all the way, disappointment thick in his mouth when Gaara did no such thing.

Whenever he bent his arms, a stabbing pain stung him all the way from the tips of his fingers to the middle of his chest from both sides, so he kept bending them, over and over again until the pain actually became numbing.

"Stop it."

Naruto idly gave himself kudos for not flinching that time. He looked up and looked up at Gaara with a glare that hurt his tearing eyes. "_No_."

Gaara looked back at him, still looking self righteous in his stance with the dead dog in his arms. He mouth formed a thin line, like it always did; only it was curved into the tiniest frowns.

Naruto wanted to laugh. Was the redhead finally angry at him?

_Not angry enough_, he thought.

Suddenly the redhead stepped forwards. Naruto allowed himself to stand still. Maybe this was the part where Gaara would get over his stupid lack of emotions and just beat him already—like he was _supposed_ to.

"We're going now." The redhead said lightly, never raising his voice.

Ha. Or maybe the redhead had finally come to his senses and was going to finally send the blonde to jail for once.

Naruto nodded his head. It wasn't as good as getting beat up, but he supposed the people back at the precinct would want nothing more than to treat him like shit now that they knew what Naruto was capable of.

Naruto blinked hard at the redhead when he took a few more steps towards him, then went outside to go out the door. Naruto eyed the broken hinges of his door hazily. Did he do that? Did he break down his door to get to his dog? He couldn't remember.

The redhead stopped right outside of Naruto's apartment, and turned to look at the blonde expectantly. Naruto followed, his head downcast again.

Why was Gaara bringing the dog with him anyway? Was it so he could parade Naruto's crime? So he'd have no trouble having evidence against Naruto's treachery? Naruto didn't think Gaara was capable of something like that—but it was exactly what a policeman was _supposed_ to do, right?

When Naruto was only a few feet behind the redhead, Gaara eyed him distantly before walking towards the stairs.

Naruto sighed and followed. Even if the redhead was finally coming to his senses about putting him in jail, he still had no idea how to treat a murderer. Gaara should have been dragging Naruto—by his bleeding arms—banging his body down the stairs, giving him no courtesy for the pain he would feel. He wasn't supposed to be walking ahead, with his back turned, _trusting_ Naruto to follow him.

_You're doing it wrong_! Naruto wanted to scream. You shouldn't trust me. You shouldn't have your back _turned_—you should be _cautious_ of me—_afraid_ of me, even. Hell, I could stab you right now—or maybe push you down the stairs!

Naruto felt a dangerous itch in his fingers, tugging him to actually push Gaara. But then he stopped. He blinked at himself, paused, and looked down at his hands.

Oh my God.

Oh my God.

Was he really about to…push someone down the stairs?

Naruto twitched.

He really was a monster wasn't he?

**You learn from the best.**

Naruto shook again, trying to shake off the feeling of helplessness that the voice brought with it. He needed to calm down. He needed to keep his cool. If he just shut his mind, then all the dangerous thoughts would go away.

Gaara walked down the stairs quickly; with strides so long it seemed as if he was gliding down. Naruto followed the redhead like a mouse, with quick skittering steps, trying desperately to keep up with his own short legs. The speed helped the blonde, in a way. It made him focus all his energy on keeping up, and kept his mind off of anything else that would shatter him.

He concentrated on the peeling off-white walls, the chipped cement staircase, and the swift way the redhead moved in front of him.

It was in no time at all that they were at the first floor and walking towards the double doored exit. Naruto nearly stumbled on the last step— he'd forgotten about that particular chip in the cement, and when he did catch himself he found himself suddenly aware of the sounds around him. Gaara kicked one of the doors open with his foot, and the shrill cry of a police car alarm pierced his ears.

_Wheeoo wheeeoo whee_—

Naruto put his palms against his ears, and felt his eyes cross when the sound caused an instant headache. When he focused his eyes again, he saw Gaara's back, still walking ahead, non-stop, with the dog tail bouncing idly with each of his steps. Naruto was prepared to run after him, when he finally took in his surroundings. Up ahead, he could see a mass of police cars crowding the road ahead, their lights beaming wildly in each direction. There was also a crowd of people, standing and shouting in the streets and along the sidewalks.

Naruto paused. What the hell happened? The blonde blinked for a moment, before realizing how much further ahead Gaara was and running after him. The blonde hissed at the pain in his arms, but continued on anyway.

It was half a minute before he reached the redhead, and when he did they were almost outside of his building's wide entrance grounds. The sounds of the police sirens were only getting louder, and Naruto had to squint at the lights. For some reason, no one seemed to be paying attention to him, with his bleeding arms, and Gaara with the dead dog. It was probably because they were so wrapped up in whatever was going on up ahea—

"Gaara!"

The blonde jumped, startled, and turned towards the voice. He saw a muscular man in a police uniform, a man he'd never seen before, walking towards them with a look of angry incredulousness.

"Gaara!" the man called again, and Naruto turned to find that the redhead still hadn't stopped walking. Naruto darted to follow him again when the he saw the muscular man doing the same thing from the corner of his eye. The man was stalking over to them, as tall as the redhead was, with dark brown hair swaying feverishly against the wind. "Damn it, Gaara!"

Naruto stood where he was and watched with wide eyes when the redhead still kept on walking. "G-Gaara…?" he started, but the wind in the air drowned his voice.

The brown haired man who'd been coming at them from the side burst into a quick jog, and caught up to Gaara so that he stood in front of the redhead. Gaara finally stopped, and from his position, Naruto couldn't tell the look on the redhead's face, so he ran up to meet them.

When the blonde was a few feet behind the two, he saw the angry look on the brown haired man's face, and caught the last words of a sentence.

"—have something to do with this, Gaara?" the man gestured furiously towards the traffic ahead of them.

Naruto paused. "Gaara...?" The redhead didn't turn around. His head was held downcast, from what Naruto could see from behind him. Instead the brown haired man looked up at him and glared. His eyes softened when he looked at Naruto's bleeding elbows—but only slightly.

"Did Gaara do that to you?" he said harshly. "Don't worry about it; I'll pay for all the trouble's he's caused you."

Naruto blinked. _What_? "Uh…" he started to say. "Gaara didn't…he didn't do this—"

"Don't try to stick up for him when it's obvious you know what he _is_." He said scathingly before turning to look at Gaara again, who still had his head downcast. "As for you—I told Kakashi that you would mess up again, but he obviously thinks that you—"

He was cut off when Gaara stepped sharply to the side and started walking again. Naruto jolted forwards again to keep up with the redhead. "Gaa—"

"Don't _follow_ him." The brown haired man said, turning to look at Naruto and ignoring the redhead who was walking towards the lights and the sirens.

"But—" Naruto started, still confused as to what the hell was going on. "—I have to follow him." He stated with wide eyes.

The brown haired man raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

Naruto blinked. "Because…he told me to. He's…arresting me."

The brown haired man barked out a laugh. "Arresting you? That idiot wouldn't know how to arrest anyone if the way introduced itself to him. I suggest you get the hell out of here, kid. I'll deal with Gaara."

Naruto flinched back at the irritated harshness in the man's voice. "I…" he started to say lamely. Then he shook his head. "I have to follow Gaara." He said quickly, and turned to run after the redhead again.

"Kid!" he heard the man call from behind him, but Naruto ignored him. He didn't know what that man's problem was, but he couldn't really pay much attention to that when the redhead was so far ahead of him. Gaara hadn't slowed down one bit, and he was swiftly dodging people, and police officers who were turning towards him and giving him incredulous looks.

Naruto ran as fast as his feet could carry him to reach the redhead, but he still remained several feet behind him. Naruto began to pant. Why was the redhead walking so fast? He was supposed to be _arresting_ Naruto—why was he leaving the blonde behind?

_That idiot wouldn't know how to arrest anyone if the way introduced itself to him._

Naruto shook his head. It was true the redhead was a little strange, but that man talked as if the redhead was…incompetent—or something.

Another policeman ahead—one that Naruto recognized— appeared in his line of vision. The man saw him, widened his eyes, and turned to look at the redhead who was striding past him. "Gaara!" the heavy set man wildly. He turned and grabbed the redhead by the elbow, pulling him back. The redhead stopped moving, and turned to look at the man with eyes so hooded that Naruto couldn't tell the expression in them.

Naruto stopped a few feet in front of them, bending over so he could gasp for air. "Gaa…" he trailed off and took another gulp of breath. For some reason it became harder to breathe once he stopped running.

"Gaara, what is the kid doing here?" asked the heavy set man. Naruto looked up to find him looking at Gaara cautiously. The blonde turned look up at the redhead. As short as he was, he could see the expressionless eyes even as Gaara held them downcast. "Gaara…" the heavy set man started lightly. "Did you…forget Kakashi's directions?" he asked softly, as if the redhead was a child.

The redhead didn't respond, and Naruto raised an eyebrow. What was going on?

"Gaara…" the man said again. "That's your car isn't it? The one up ahead? The one that caused the accident?"

Naruto's eyes widened. "Accident?"

"Stay out of this, kid." The man said quickly, glaring at him. Then his eyes softened back in Gaara's direction. "Gaara…" he said again. "Where did you get the dog from? Did you—"

"What the hell is going on?" another woman was walking towards them. He paused when he saw the three standing there. "Oh. You found him." The woman said with a small growl. "Gaara—do you have any idea what you've done?" she all but screeched. "I swear to Zeus, if you're having another one of your moments because you forgot to take your medic—"

"Ten-Ten." The policeman said cutting her off. "We found him. Let's just tell the others to leave so we can go back to the preci—"

"No."

Naruto wasn't the only one startled by the cool voice of the redhead. He jerked his head up, and eyed Gaara with wide confused eyes. "Gaa—"

"We have to go" the redhead said, turning to look down at him.

Naruto blinked. He didn't understand. The redhead was trying to arrest him, right? The policemen were right there. All Gaara had to do was tell them what he did—he had the dog for proof—and that would be all there would be to it, right? Naruto didn't get why the redhead had been walking so quickly, he didn't understand why all these policemen were questioning the redhead as if he'd done something wrong, and he didn't understand why Gaara didn't just tell everyone what he was there for and get the blonde out of his hands.

"Go where?" the brown haired woman asked harshly. She reminded Naruto of Ino. "Where do you _possibly_ have to be after what you've—"

"Just drop it, Ten-Ten." The man said with a shake of his head. "Gaara…" he asked tentatively. "Where do you have to go?"

For the first time, Naruto saw an emotion flash across Gaara's face—so fast that he doubted he saw it in the first place. Gaara squinted his eyes in a sort of frustration—and pain. Naruto widened his eyes at this. Then he stood up straight and took a step towards the redhead. Gaara was a strange one, he realized, and whatever he was trying to do…it probably had nothing to do with the police. Naruto surprised himself by looking straight into the redhead's eyes and nodding. "Let's go." He said.

The redhead blinked expressionlessly back at him before nodding back at him and turning to walk ahead again.

"Hey—" the woman started to say, but the heavy set man cut him off.

"Forget it." He said harshly. "We'll just follow him—like last time. Get in the squad car."

Naruto couldn't spare a chance at watching where the two officers went as he had to keep up with the redhead who was walking ahead.

Naruto broke into a run again. Gaara's strides were so long—they were four times each of Naruto's steps. As Naruto eased up into a jog behind the redhead, he found himself gasping in shock at his surroundings. Was there really an accident? There was a long line of cars , honking and blaring in front of them.

Gaara was about to take a left on the sidewalk now, and Naruto turned with him.

Wait? Where the hell was the redhead running to?

Naruto blinked. "W-wait—"

Then he stopped. And then he saw it—or at least, he _thought_ he did. He remembered the redhead's plain gray Sudan—the one with the strange sticker. It was in the middle of street, looking innocent save for the car that was rammed behind it, tearing the trunk upwards with waves of dents and fractures.

Naruto's eyes went wide.

When did…?

Naruto gasped.

_No_.

Was it him? Was it _his_ fault? When he jumped out of the car—h-he couldn't really remember what happened to him after that. He remembered the voice in his head, he remembered the pattering of footsteps behind him—the distant crash—

Naruto stopped running.

_Shit_.

He looked up. Gaara was still walking ahead, dodging beeping cars, and angry pedestrians. He saw the surprised look on some people's faces when they saw the animal Gaara cradled in his arms. And it seemed…

Naruto opened his mouth incredulously.

…it seemed the redhead was heading for his car.

"Gaara!" Naruto shouted.

What was the redhead _doing_?

To his surprise, and relief, the redhead stopped walking. He turned, found Naruto's eyes and stared.

Naruto opened his mouth to speak. They were several yards away from each other now, and Naruto shook his head. "What are you doing?" he almost shouted. A particular blow of the wind caused him to hiss at the pain in his elbows.

Gaara didn't reply to him, instead he stared for a moment longer, before turning and heading back to the direction of car.

Naruto jumped, and started to run after the redhead, ungraciously avoiding the cars and the shouting people.

"There he is!" he heard from the side—but he ignored it. It was more important to follow Gaara now, who was right behind his car, and reaching ahead to open the driver's seat door.

Naruto collided clumsily against the side of the trunk, before he pulled himself up and darted to the passenger door. He opened the door hastily, pretty sure that the redhead would leave without him if he didn't.

As soon as he sat down, a dark mass of flesh was put on top of him. It was Gaara putting the dog on his lap. Naruto looked down at the dog incredulously, and then he looked up at Gaara with the same look. He didn't flinch when he found the redhead looking at him with those eyes again.

"Wha—"

"Seatbelt." The redhead said, cutting him off.

Naruto blinked. Gaara continued to stare at him. With shaking hands, the blonde reached for the seatbelt, dangling idly by his side, and pulled it to cover him. He felt the redhead's eyes on him the entire time. Naruto wasn't shaking because of that though. He was shaking because he had the dog—the dead dog—smoldering him on his lap.

It didn't stink—not like it did in Naruto's apartment—but it carried a strange smell—almost metallic. It was possibly the drying blood, but Naruto knew better. It was the decay that smelled this way. Oozing out of the dog's dark fur the same way a banana peel did on a public sidewalk.

The moment Naruto's shaking hands managed to click the seatbelt into place, he felt the car screech into motion. There was a moment of distraction—a moment where Naruto was more worried about the wreckage in the back of Gaara's car—but then his eyes travelled to the mass of fur on his lap again, and he felt his mind descend into that depressed corner of his mind again.

Naruto let a shaking hand brush a dead lock of hair away from the dog's eyes. One look at those clamped shut organs, with leathery skin covering them—etched with sleep crust and a brownish substance that Naruto assumed was blood—and the blonde broke down.

He couldn't even think before the tears began to fall from his eyes again. The already dry tracks of salt water only renewed themselves on his pale face. He sniffed messily, and patted more dead hair on the dogs head, smoothing and shifting it in ways he never could when it was alive. He moved both hands across the fur, surprisingly still soft even though it was dead, and moved all the hair so that it was all slicked in one direction. Without a moment of thought, Naruto bend over so he could put his nose and breathe in the scent of the dog.

It wasn't—

It wasn't as terrible, as he was—almost hoping—it would be. He was sort of hoping, in the back of his mind, that the smell of death would be so strong that he would die from it—or at least fall into unconsciousness long enough for someone to bury him, and hide him the world forever.

Naruto shivered.

It wasn't withdrawal. He knew that. Because it was most definitely cold. He could feel the rush of cold hair the most in his elbows. Naruto shook again. Then he continued to play with the hair on the dog's head.

He'd been angry the day he almost killed it—that day in the stairwell—because the fur had reminded him so much of Neji's flowing locks. Naruto wanted to shake his head at his stupidity; this dog's fur was nothing like Neji's cheap whore hair. This dog's fur was black. It didn't have the unusual specks of lavender, and it didn't turn almost brown in florescent lights. This dog's hair stayed purely black—even more so now that it wasn't alive. Naruto racked his fingers softly against its scalp. Even the skin beneath the fur was almost the same dark color, albeit it inched more towards purple.

Naruto lifted an ear—Yes. Even the skin inside the ear was black. Nothing like Neji at all. Naruto had made a mistake. He'd been wrong to compare something so beautiful to something as trashy as that boyfriend stealing asshole. How could he be so stupid as to compare this gorgeous animal to the trash bag cock sucker mothefather that was Hyuuga? Stupid Neji and his stupid lavender brown candy ass hair.

Naruto wrinkled his nose.

He felt…

He felt a little better now.

He blinked.

Then he blinked again.

Hmm. He did feel a little better.

He realized that the tears stopped running profusely down his cheeks, and that his hands didn't shake as he gently caressed the dog. Naruto sighed. Was this a good thing? He was a monster. A murderer. Shouldn't he be shriveling up into a ball? Naruto shook his head. He wondered idly where the hell the redhead was taking them. He was driving with some of the same speed he did when he'd fist driven Naruto home, but his speed seemed—labored. Naruto didn't know how to describe it. He didn't drive as fast as before. Maybe it was because his car was so damaged in the back.

As if someone snapped their fingers, Naruto started—almost violently—as his surroundings came crashing against him again. He blinked hard as the sounds of sirens travelled into his ears. He tried to stretch to see behind them. He couldn't see much through the broken glass of the rear windshield, but he could make out the bright lights, the familiar white and blue streams of color on a police car.

Naruto gulped. Were they being chased? Were they trying to…arrest him—

Or.

He turned to Gaara. Were they trying to get Gaara? Did he do something wrong? Did they think the accident was his fault?

The redhead was driving at a fairly normal speed. He swerved dangerously in between cars, but he always stopped at a red light.

That made Naruto think. He thought of the words of the heavy set police man they saw earlier.

_We'll just follow him—like last time._

They weren't chasing them after all then, were they? They were just…following Gaara? But why?

Probably just to see where the hell he was going, because even Naruto didn't know. Naruto squinted at the redhead. The redhead didn't acknowledge him—which was probably a good thing since they were driving so quickly. But that didn't mean Naruto couldn't ask. "Gaa—"

They swerved again, so suddenly that Naruto had to grip the dashboard to get a hold of himself. He turned to look at the redhead incredulously, but Gaara, in a smooth motion, had craned his neck to look behind him with his hand still on the wheel. Somewhere within that movement, he'd set the car into reverse because they were suddenly driving backwards into…

Naruto blinked.

…a parking spot.

Before he could question it further, the redhead had stilled the car and was removing his seatbelt. He stepped out of the car a moment later, and Naruto opened his mouth to speak, "Gaa—"

Gaara's door slammed in his face. Naruto blinked again. What the hell—

And then his passenger was opening. Naruto jumped, and turned sharply to the side. He saw Gaara with his hands on his door, opening it for him. Naruto let out a confused sound. Gaara expected him to get up? But—

As if reading his mind, the redhead bent down and reached for the dog, pulling it easily so it cradled in his arms when he stood back up.

And then he began to walk away.

Naruto moved to follow him, but jolted backwards when the seatbelt stopped him. Grumbling, he turned to take it off quickly, and bolted out of the car after the redhead as soon as he did. He didn't even bother closing the door back.

From the corner of his eye, he saw the police car stopping right beside Gaara's—double parking. From the back seat, the brown haired muscular man came out—the one who'd shouted at Gaara before.

Naruto didn't pause to wonder what they were doing there, instead he ran after the redhead who was walking towards a small white building. Naruto was running too fast to catch the large words displayed in front of it. He caught up to the redhead in no time, going inside the building at the same time two automatic doors opened for them.

When they entered, a gust of air conditioned wind fluttered their hair. Naruto squinted against the bright lights. They were so similar to the lights of the hospital—fluorescent and relentless as it bat down on you, exposing all.

Naruto blinked. Come to think of it…the place they were in looked very much like the hospital he'd been in earlier that day—or was it yesterday? He couldn't tell time anymore.

"Ah…Gaara…" he called tentatively. The redhead was standing, with the dog cradled in his hands, eyes searching for something and obviously not finding it.

There were people looking strangely at them now. A woman at a desk—she dressed in all purple— stood up, and held up a hand. "Uhm—Excuse me?"

Gaara looked up at her, and strode towards her quickly. To Naruto's horror, the redhead extended the dog towards the woman with determined eyes. "Fix it." He said lightly.

The woman spluttered. "Sir, this is a _clinic_—"

"Gaara!"

There was motion behind Naruto, and he turned to find the three police officers from earlier coming inside. The people in the—clinic—were gasping, and nurses were shuffling people back into their rooms. The muscular policeman pushed passed Naruto and walked forwards until he was at least two yards in front of the redhead. "Gaara." He said disbelievingly. "What the hell are you doing?"

Naruto turned to see that Gaara wasn't even looking at the man, instead he stayed staring at the woman behind the desk with almost hard eyes. He extended the dog towards her again. "Fix it."

Naruto shook violently on the spot—but it was with a strange emotion he couldn't describe. Gaara had driven all the way here—ignored the pleas of police officer—ignored the damage of a car accident—so he could bring his dog to a _clinic_.

_What_? Naruto whispered in his head. Why was the redhead doing this? He felt something thick invade his throat. The emotion was turning watery with tears. He shook his head and squeezed his eyes shut. He wouldn't break down now—not in front of all these people...and not when Gaara was in obvious need of his help.

Kakashi was right when he said Gaara was weird. He thought idly as he stepped forwards to approach the redhead. But Naruto didn't know in what way. He'd never met a person as strange as Gaara before.

"Gaara…" he started softly.

"Damn it, Gaara—what the hell are you doing?" the muscular policeman spoke harshly. "is that dog dead?" he hissed. The man turned to give the nurse a somewhat apologetic look. "I'm sorry ma'am; this guy's craz—"

"What's going on here?"

All eyes turned to see a woman walking down the hall. She wore all white, unlike the woman behind the desk. She looked around with strange eyes—they almost looked red in the light. Her eyes stopped at Naruto for a long moment, then drifted to the police officers behind him, and finally the front desk where Gaara was extending the dead dog. She blinked. "Gaara?"

The redhead turned to her immediately. With less than a few long strides, he stood directly in front of her, and extended the dog towards her. "Fix it."

Naruto watched the woman look up at Gaara coolly.

The muscular man spoke up again. "I'm so sorry, Kurenai." He said in a frustrated tone. "He's having another one of his—"

The woman held a hand up. "It's alright, Kankuro." She said lightly, with a voice so soft it made the situation unfolding in front of the blonde a little less overwhelming. "Gaara," she said lightly. Then she smiled up at the redhead, who was at least two heads taller than her. "Where did you find this?" she asked.

The redhead didn't respond, and from his position, Naruto couldn't tell what face he was making. Perhaps the redhead was going to assume everyone knew what he was going to say and infuriatingly say nothing, as usual. Naruto shook his head, and then he raised a hand. "I-I—" he started lamely. All but one pairs of eyes turned to look at him. He looked down. "I-It's mine."

There was shuffling behind Naruto. "I don't understand," said the police woman behind him. "What's going on—what does this kid have to do with anything?"

Kid, kid, kid—Naruto hissed. He wasn't a kid. "While I was in the hospital…" he started loudly, his temporary anger giving him courage, "I left…I left the dog…alone, a-a-and I—" he stopped then, because that anger was quickly morphing into guilt, and pain, and sadness, and all the emotions Naruto didn't want to feel right now—in front of all these people. "I—" Naruto horrified himself by sobbing. He put a hand to his mouth quickly, and blinked hard, willing the tears to stay behind his eyes. But of course they wouldn't listen to him. One by one they forced themselves passed Naruto's shut eyelids. The blonde shook his head and tried to explain again. "I left—"

"That's enough." The woman in white said. She spared Naruto her red-eyed stare and looked towards the woman sitting in the front desk. "Sadako." She called. "Help these young men—and woman," she nodded at the brown haired police officer, "into the waiting room." Then she smiled up at Gaara. "Help me bring this into the emergency room will you, Gaara?" she asked. She began walking down the hall then, and Gaara followed her, never once looking back to see Naruto or any of the other police officers for that matter.

Naruto stood there awkwardly for a few moments, tears still idly running down his cheeks. He hastily wiped them, but kept his eyes down, as he could feel the eyes of everyone around him staring. There was some shuffling ahead, and even with his downcasted head, Naruto could make out the figure of the desk nurse exiting her station and standing in front of the group. "Ah…" she said lightly. "Follow me, please?"

There were three footsteps behind him, until finally two strong hands grabbed the arms at his sides and pulled them back. Naruto hissed when the movement made his elbows spasm in pain. The two hands behind hesitated. "What the hell?" the woman said. "Choji." She called lightly. "Look at this."

More shuffling. Naruto raised his eyes to meet the nurse in front of him. She had long black hair that reached past her shoulders. She was looking at Naruto and the police officers inquiringly. "Ah…" she started lightly. She tilted her head to see what they were doing behind Naruto's back. Naruto winced again when the officers behind him twisted his arms again.

The muscular police officer ahead glared at Naruto and the officers behind him. "The fuck is going on?" he asked angrily. He took a step forwards, but the heavy set policeman raised a hand.

"He's bleeding, Kankuro." he said lightly. Hands let go of Naruto and let them fall to sides. Naruto hissed again. He slowly raised his arms up so he could take a look at them. He grimaced. He couldn't really see his elbows, but there were large scabs just above both of them and they were turning a purplish color.

"Oh, my." The nurse exclaimed lightly. She walked up to the blonde quickly and grabbed his hands. "This boy must be treated immediately." She said urgently pulling Naruto towards her.

"I'm going to ask to be in the room with him, ma'am." Said the officer behind Naruto. "He's under strict parole—"

"Are you his parent and or guardian? The woman asked instantly.

The man stumbled. "Ah, no—"

"Then I'm afraid you aren't allowed in the same room as—" she looked at Naruto expectantly.

The blonde blinked up at her. "Ah…Naruto."

"Naruto—while he is being treated. Strict medical rules—"

"I'm sorry ma'am but that's hardly—"

"No need to apologize." The woman chirped. "You will follow me to the waiting rooms, and then I will treat Naruto-san."

The police officer started to speak again, but the woman began walking quickly down the hall. She pulled on Naruto hands carefully—as if she knew which movement would cause him pain. They walked for less than a minute before they entered a wide room with chairs. Several other people were sitting in some of those chairs and they all turned to look at the group with either raised eyebrows or wide eyes.

The desk nurse looked at the officers. "You will wait here." She said curtly, before she walked passed them, with Naruto in tow.

"Ma'am—" began one of the officers, but they were already turning a corner. The desk nurse—Sadako—began mumbling to herself. Naruto couldn't hear all the words, but he caught "finally" and "about time".

They were entering a small room a moment later. It was like a miniature version of the hospital room Naruto had been assigned to back at the hospital, except the bed was a large rubbery contraption, and there were no walls—only a surrounding white desk that stuck to the walls with weird gadgets.

"Sit." The woman said suddenly pushing Naruto against the rubbery bed. Naruto had to hoist himself to sit up, and that was no easy feat considering his elbows. He hoisted himself awkwardly, grunting a bit as he crawled backwards onto the bed.

When he looked up, the woman was smiling at him. Naruto gulped.

"You're what we call an emergency clean up." The woman said eagerly, as she put on a pair of gloves. She turned around and pulled a white pad. She tore it open, and the harsh smell of alcohol filled the room. She turned to Naruto with a smile. She held the pad with one hand and extended the other towards Naruto. "Your arm, please" she asked happily.

Naruto could only gulp as he complied.

* * *

It had hurt. Naruto knew that. But he couldn't fully put his attention on the pain in his now bandaged elbows. He was too busy trying the figure Gaara out.

It was proving impossible.

He was trying to put pieces together, and failing miserably. He was trying match up Gaara's behavior to make one diagnosis—but he was coming up short. He wasn't smart enough to find a word for the redhead anyway—and even if he was, he doubted he'd be able to think of one then. Gaara was just so strange.

All his actions—his lack of emotions—Naruto knew it all meant something.

He was sitting in the middle of the rubber bed, in the same room he'd been in for his "emergency clean up". The woman—Sadako—was strange, but comforted the blonde when he would gasp in pain from the dabs of alcohol pads she pressed into his bleeding elbows. She'd managed to make Naruto laugh with a lame doctor's joke…but right after she told it, she stabbed him with a strange needle.

Naruto shook his head. The nurse had the idea that if she distracted Naruto, whatever she did would hurt less. The woman had been very weird. She would go from chirping to growling, to smiling excitedly. Sometimes she spoke as if she was announcing something to a crowd, other times she mumbled shyly. She was so strange.

Naruto shook his head.

Then he sighed. He thought about the new set of medical bills his grandmother would have to pay, he thought about the way his elbows no longer hurt, he thought about the strangeness that was Gaara, and he thought about his dead dog.

What was Gaara thinking? Naruto thought sadly.

Maybe…maybe the redhead had...problems…with his head? Maybe he was a bit like the crazy desk nurse…

Naruto paused. If that was the case then…things would make a lot more sense…It would explain most of Gaara's behavior…it would explain why the redhead had driven here, in the midst of chaos, to order a clinic to "fix" a dead dog. Naruto shook his head. Yeah, it would explain a lot of things. Kakashi did say the redhead was…different.

And then—

Speak of the devil.

The door to his room was open, but the nurse from earlier came in, followed by the tall redhead. Naruto held a breath. Amidst all the chaos, he'd forgotten just how striking the redhead looked—especially in these fluorescent lights.

"Okay, Naruto. " the nurse chirped. "_Uzumaki_, Naruto. We found your file." She nodded at the blonde. "Kurenai says you should wait here until she calls for you. Gaara here—" she gestured majestically towards the redhead, "will stay here with you." Then she hopped once. "Okay. I'm… off!" She saluted, and marched outside the room, closing the door behind her.

Naruto stared at her until the door closed behind her.

And then…Gaara's presence washed over him. But…but it didn't overwhelm him—not like it used to. Instead he turned to Gaara with raised, inquiring eyebrows without cowering away in stuttering fear.

The redhead was standing, seemingly out of place in the small room, against the desk-wall. There was nothing for him to lean on—not like in the hospital room, so he stood there awkwardly, hands at his sides.

At that moment, the redhead looked so…Naruto couldn't say weak…and the redhead's presence didn't seem any less hardcore…it was just that…he didn't seem as intimidating anymore.

"Gaara." He said lightly, in a voice so calm he startled himself.

The redhead looked up at him with those eyes, and Naruto didn't flinch back. Instead he patted the spot next to him on the rubber bed. "Come sit." He said again, in that same light voice.

He watched the redhead blink slowly at him before he took two long steps, and sat beside Naruto. The blonde felt a thrill rush through him when Gaara sat down. He wasn't completely immune to the redhead yet. His heart was beating faster—but not in a way that pounded his ears. And the flushed feeling he was feeling in his face wasn't all nervousness.

When Gaara sat down, he didn't have to hoist himself up the way Naruto did. He simply sat, and when he did, he was still two and a half heads taller than the blonde.

Naruto wrinkled his nose at that.

They sat in silence for a few minutes. The blonde played with his fingers quietly. They were so close. Closer than they'd ever been before. Gaara sat with his legs spread as far as they could spread on the small rubber bed, with his back dipped, and hands hanging idly between his legs. Naruto's clothed knee was touching his clothed thigh.

Naruto shivered.

Then he continued to play with his fingers. He kept giving Gaara side glances, but the redhead never moved. He kept the same listless face as the minutes passed, breathing so shallowly compared to Naruto's steady in and ex hales.

Naruto closed his eyes and breathed in heartily. This room didn't smell like his hospital room. It was…fruitier. Or maybe it was the redhead sitting next to him…? Naruto shook his head. No. The room smelled like this even before the redhead came in. Naruto opened his eyes.

Speaking of smell. Wasn't the redhead supposed to smell like dead dog? He'd been carrying the animal around—and he stood around with Naruto who smelled no better than the dog. Naruto turned to look at the redhead again, and his eyes went a little wide. Why was he only noticing now that the redhead had changed clothes? He was wearing a white T-Shirt, long enough to cover his torso, and it had scribbles on it that Naruto couldn't see from this position without looking obvious. He was still wearing the same pants, from what Naruto could tell, and he had the same large combat boots on.

Naruto wrinkled his nose. They hadn't given _him_ new clothes. He stunk, and he knew it. He wondered how the redhead could even stand to sit next to him the way he was now. He wanted to know why the redhead did a lot of things, the blonde thought with an inward sigh.

And…and he supposed he would never really find the answers to those questions until he…asked—right?

Naruto turned to look at the redhead, full-on, this time, instead of a furtive glance. He stopped playing with his fingers, so he wouldn't look down nervously like an idiot while he spoke.

"G-Gaara." Damn it, he was stuttering again. The redhead didn't move, instead his fingers twitched, and Naruto smiled, because he knew that meant the redhead was listening. "Why did you…" he thought of a way to begin. "I mean…" the blonde shook his head and sighed. "…the dog." Naruto allowed himself to say. And still, there was that odd tug of grief at his heart. But he shook his head and carried on. "Why did you…bring it here…?" he asked finally. He looked up at Gaara again, and tried to look for the answer in the redhead's eyes.

Gaara was still turned away from him, but even from the side, Naruto could see the way the skin under the redhead's eyes tightened.

Naruto nodded his head to no one and waited.

A minute passed. And then another. And then another. Naruto sighed. Maybe the redhead hadn't heard him after all…But it was more likely that Gaara was simply ignoring the question. Naruto closed his eyes. He supposed it wasn't a big deal. He didn't even think Gaara—

"Because you were upset."

Naruto blinked. He turned to look at the redhead with wide eyes. "What?"

Gaara's hands twitched again. "Because you were upset."

Naruto opened his mouth to speak. Then he closed it again. Because he was _upset_? "But—the dog was _dead_." Naruto exclaimed incredulously. In an instant, the tug of guilt pulled at his heart again, and joining that emotion was anger. He wasn't angry at Gaara—gods no—but the thought of the dead animal, and how he played a part of his death always flashed back at him when he thought about it too deeply. The blonde took a deep breath and exhaled shakily. He had to calm down, lest the voice came again. "Why…" he started to say again, as he turned back to the redhead. "How, can you do that, when the dog wasn't even…_alive_."

The redhead's eyes flicked to meet the blonde's eyes steadily, and Naruto felt his heart falter. Gaara, sitting idly like that, with his eyes staring into him from the side without turning his head—it was…sort of scary. The listlessness in his eyes looked almost threatening from this position, but Naruto knew…somehow…that this probably wasn't the effect the redhead was going for.

"What?" Naruto asked cautiously.

The redhead's hands twitched—but before he could say anything—or rather before h could think about what he was going to say, the door to the small room opened. Naruto turned to the intruder quickly, and his heart did an odd jump when he saw the red eyed doctor at the door.

She smiled at them, completely ignoring the tears that were beginning to fall down Naruto's face. "Hello, boys. You can come with me now."

The redhead stood up immediately, and stood in the hall waiting for the other two to follow. Naruto squinted helplessly at the woman as he practically had to jump off the rubber bed. "Where are we going?" he asked when he was in front of her.

She turned around and started walking down the hall before she answered him. "To see your dog." She said calmly, waving a hand.

Naruto reeled back. _What_? Naruto scowled savagely. He didn't want to see a corpse. Not again. He would break down—and he didn't want that. He didn't want the voice to come back. And in a clinic, no less. The voice would have blast putting him down if he felt into that depression again, and he didn't want to make a fool of himself here—not in front of them. Not in front of Gaara.

But he couldn't just stay behind while the doctor was walking ahead, now, could he? Naruto hesitated. He could follow, or he could turn and make a run for it—

But that wasn't a good plan either, was it? He would make a fool of himself if he ran away, and he would make a fool of himself when they showed him his dog—possibly in a body bag. Naruto shook his head. It was a lose-lose situation. But which would hurt less?

Naruto stepped back quietly, getting ready to turn and make a run for it—

"Naruto!"

The blonde stopped at mid-turn. He looked back to see the woman, and Gaara, looking back at him. The woman raised an eyebrow. "Come on, then. I have other patients you know. Human ones."

Naruto didn't hide his defeated sigh. They were going to make him face it, then? He walked towards the two the same way he would walk to his execution—slowly, with the fear clearly evident on his face.

When Naruto reached them, the woman laughed. "I tell you to hurry, and you _crawl_ over here." She said with a shake of her head. She began walking again, making sure to turn every now and then to make sure the blonde was still with him. "So," she said. "Naruto." She whipped her hair to the side and tucked a few locks behind her ears. "I had an interesting conversation with your grandmother."

Naruto didn't want to ask how they got a hold of his grandmother so quickly. "She's an…interesting woman." The red eyed woman finished. "Very… pundit—acrimonious at times." She nodded her head as if she had found the right words.

Naruto glared at her back. He didn't know what either of those words meant. But he didn't care. He wanted the woman to shut up so he could prepare himself for the sight he would see in the—whatever room they kept the dead bodies in.

"You know, " the woman started speaking again. "I'd never treated an animal before." She shook her head and laughed again. "Of course there's been the occasional bird with the broken wing—but no one's ever come into my clinic with a—" she laughed again. "dog."

Naruto felt his small hands form fists. How—_inconsiderate_—could this woman get? She was leading them into a corpse and she was…joking about it? She was acting as if his dog was…as if it was—

Naruto grabbed his hope and strangled it with his bare imaginary hands.

Hoping never got him anywhere, and he most certainly was not going to let hope for something so impossible crush him now—not now, not ever.

"But of course, you can always trust Gaara to bring something new to the table. Like he always does." She turned to Gaara then, and grinned at him. The redhead responded by inclining his head.

Naruto shook with fury. Stop _talking_, he wanted to shout. But doing that would only make him embarrass himself prematurely. Naruto shook his head and flexed his fists.

"But really, Naruto." The woman continued. "You should really be careful next time. Keep food around an animal at all times—especially if you think you're going to be away for long—"

Naruto couldn't hear the rest. The knife of hope was stabbing him so relentlessly in his heart that he hardly kept himself from crying out loud.

_N-next time?_

"At least his fur was kept nice." The woman mused with a nose in the air. "What I'd give to have hair as soft as that…"

Naruto moaned inwardly. He knew where this was going and it was going to kill him if he let it happen. He was going to hope—and then his hopes would be crushed. And then he would spiral into that corner of depression in his mind again, and then the voice would speak to him again, and then he would go crazy, and then, and then, and then—

"We're here."

Naruto looked up with panicked eyes. The tears were falling down his eyes again, but the woman didn't comment on them. Instead she pointed to the door next her. "He's in here." She said lightly. "Gaara and I will give you a few minutes alone."

Naruto continued to look ahead with panicked eyes, darting back and forth from the door to the woman's face , to the door, to the woman's hand reaching for the door, to the woman's face, to Gaara's face, to the opened door, to the woman gesturing for him to go through the door—

"Naruto."

The blonde jumped. He looked at the woman's face. She smiled at him. "Get in already." She said lightly. "She's waiting."

Naruto felt his heart water.

_She_?

He stepped forwards, his heart beating hard enough to echo in his ears. He didn't look at the redhead or the woman as he turned to the opened door. In fact he kept his eyes shut.

_Think of the dead dog, dead skin, dead hair, dead eyes, dead, dead ,dead, because that's what it is, what it is is is—if you anticipate the death it will hurt a lot less, a lot less—fear the worst—know the worst, Naruto—because that's all that'll ever come to you—_

Naruto held in a sob. He didn't want to open his eyes. He knew what he would see—but he also knew what he _wanted_ to see—and they weren't the same thing, so he was doomed to be hurt—

Naruto felt another pull at his heart. The anxiety was eating him alive. It was going to burst out of him soon. It would burst out in the form of a scream, and they would have to carry the blonde out of whatever death room they put him in. It was going to burst out of him the same way the sob itching in the back of his throat was going to if he didn't just open his…his…

His eyes.

Naruto blinked.

Then he put a hand to his mouth to muffle the strangled cry disbelief that erupted within him. There, in front of him, in that small room, on a bed, smothered under a pile of white sheets, with odd tubes and gadgets poking at it, with its tongue hanging out, panting heavily—was his dog.

Naruto became aware of the odd sounds coming out of his racking body. It was like the mixture of a sob, a moan, and a whine. He didn't understand it, he knew it sound unattractive, and he didn't care.

His dog…it was _alive_.

Damn it—it was _alive_.

Naruto walked towards the bed, ever so slowly, lest he would walk too quickly and all of it would disappear before his eyes.

But all of it felt so…it felt so real.

When he stood inches away from the bed, the dog's head turned quickly in question, facing Naruto. Naruto would've reeled back, but his feet felt like they were made of lead. Deep chocolate brown eyes looked into his pale, grayish blue ones.

The dog blinked. Naruto blinked.

Then the blonde walked closer. He dragged his feet slowly, until the very tips of his fingers were hovering over the animal's snout. He wanted to touch it, he wanted to see if it was real.

But how could he doubt it now, when the dog's harsh breath's were huffing into his shaking fingers? How could he doubt it now, when the panting mouth opened wide to reveal a tongue that drew up to sloppily lick Naruto's awaiting fingers?

Naruto sobbed again, and put both hands to cover his face, not caring that dog slobber was now on his forehead.

"Well then." The woman's voice sighed from behind. "Nice to see you two reacquainted." She walked so that she was on the other side of the bed. She examined the wires and tubes with narrowed eyes before nodding.

"Okay." She said, seeming satisfied. She began to walk away.

"Wait." Naruto croaked out to her. She stopped and turned. "H-ow," his voice broke terribly, "How d-id you bring him—her—back to…life?"

The woman stared at him for a moment before she laughed. "You can't bring animals back to life, honey." She said shaking her head. "Any sane person could see that your dog was still alive." "How could you think it was dead?" She asked incredulously.

Naruto blinked at her helplessly. "B-but, I saw it, and it—I—it wasn't breathing, and the smell, and the blood, and—"

"Naruto." The woman said interrupting the blonde calmly. "Your dog sustained some injuries. It fell unconscious for a time. There's a difference between that, and dead." She laughed then, "There's also a difference between a dog's breathing, and the beating of its heart." She winked at Naruto.

Naruto blinked back. Come to think of it…he'd never tried to feel for the dog's heart, did he? And underneath that large mass…how could he have felt it anyway? To his surprise, instead of beating himself up at his stupidity, he smiled. He smiled another one of those smiles—the real one.

"Thank you, doctor." He said to her, wiping a few tears from his eyes.

The doctor smiled and bowed. "No problem." She said with a smile of her on. "Just be careful next time."

Naruto nodded to her, and turned o invite Gaara into the room.

He blinked. "Where's Gaara?"

The woman paused outside of the room. "Oh, he ran off somewhere when you went inside." She said waving her hand uncaringly. "He'll be back." She paused. "I think." Then she ginned and gave him a peace sign. "Later~" she chirped before disappearing behind the door.

Naruto stared at the space she used to be for a moment before she turned away. The people in the hospital were so strange.

But he wasn't complaining.

He turned back to the dog with a grin of his own. The dog turned to him and flopped its ears. Naruto took the chair in front of the bed and sat. Then he dangled his fingers above the dog's nose again. It licked him.

Naruto sighed serenely. "So you're a girl, huh…" he mused. "You…"he touched the dog's head. It started to pant harder. "Need a name."

The animal made a sharp motion of opening its mouth and closing it again. Naruto thought it was trying to bark. He smiled "Do you agree with me?" he cooed. The dog made the sharp motion again, albeit still no sound came out. Naruto traced a finger on the dogs head, making sure to avoid the scar above its left eye. "What kind of name should I give you?" he asked it. "It has to be something perfect. Something worthy of you…" he trailed off …and then he closed his eyes.

He knew the perfect name.

"You're name is—"

Naruto heard the door click open behind him. He turned to see Gaara come in, with a familiar shoe box in his hands. The blonde widened his eyes. "Gaara…?"

The redhead didn't answer. He only adjusted the box in his hand so he could open it and take out…another box.

Naruto felt the annoying sting of tears in the back of his eyes again.

It was the box of dog food. The one he'd bought from the store so many days ago. He extended his hand to take the box, and Gaara let it go. The blonde eyed the rectangular prism with a shake of his head. He went through so much to get this damn thing.

Was it worth it?

Naruto looked back at the dog who was staring at something on the ceiling.

Hell yeah, it was.

Naruto turned to the redhead. "Gaara," he said, in the clearest tone he could. "I'd like you to meet my dog." He grinned then, so genuinely that an odd tinge of mischievousness—a trait that hadn't been seen on his face for years— appeared to twinkle in his eye. "Her name is Kiba."

* * *

End of Chapter

Author Notes

I totally milked that ending, x]. I'm sorry guys, that I took so long—but it's certainly a lot better than the six month wait I made you guys endure for the previous chapters, haha.

Story Notes

**13, 000 Words! O.o Hmm, really? Does fanfiction count the words correctly?**

HAPPINESS. Yay, the dog is alive. Did you guys REALLY think I was going to kill it? . I stopped the last chapter at that cliff hanger because that's just how I DO—but you guys really thought I killed the dog! Shame on you. x]

Now I know what you're thinking—why is the dog so happy go lucky around Naruto when he was the one that screwed him up? Weeell, the answer is—whatever you want it to be! My take on it is that the dog was just irate because it was in pain. Now it's on anesthetic bliiisss, =]

And what about our Gaara? Why were those policemen so mean to him? T_T stay tuned for the next chapter, where Gaara's issues will be partially revealed! *gringringrin*

Please Review—they make me feel so goo0od. =]. Later!


	10. Who is MR M? Part One

**Oblivion**

Chapter Ten: _Who is MR. M? __Pt. One_

* * *

"It's been less than a day and you've already caused this much trouble, Naruto?"

The blonde started lightly, and picked his head from between his arms to stare up at the intruder.

Kakashi looked back at him, with his arms crossed and a small sad smile on his face. "You haven't changed much since you were younger." He said lightly. "You used to cause drama like this all the time."

Naruto blinked back at the man before he sat up straight, untangling his hands from Kiba's sleeping paw. He didn't say anything back, only narrowed his eyes warily. After several moments of staring, the gray haired man finally chuckled. "You don't have to look at me like that, Naruto. I'm not here to hurt you."

Naruto widened his eyes in slight surprise. He didn't know what kind of look he had on, so he wondered exactly what the man was seeing in his expression. "I—" he started to say, but a yawn escaped him suddenly. It was loud and obnoxious, despite his attempts to stifle it. The motion hurt his jaw, and he had to hold his face in pain when he felt odd cracks at the hinges that held his mouth.

He heard another soft laugh from the gray haired man. "How long has it been since you've had a decent sleep, Naruto?" he asked.

The blonde blinked. That was an interesting question. The bed at the hospital had certainly been a lot more comfortable than the hunched position he'd arranged himself in now—but he had had that wicked nightmare in that room. Naruto stifled a shiver, lest Kakashi saw and tried to ask him questions about it.

He began to think intently about the sleep he just had. His back was aching from bending over so long, his neck hurt from its craned position, and his torso was throbbing with pain from being in the same awkward position for so long. And he felt…

He felt great.

Naruto blinked. Then he blinked again. Then he smiled—only slightly—lest he looked crazier than Kakashi already thought he was.

"A long time." He replied, turning away from the man to look at the sleeping dog. It had been several hours since Gaara had brought them to hospital. The room didn't have any windows, but Naruto figured that if he looked outside, he'd find the streets dark. As happy as he was to see his dog alive, it was still in a lot of pain—only numbed by whatever liquid was flowing into its veins—and she periodically went in and out of consciousness. Kurenai, the red eyed doctor, told Naruto not to worry about that.

"I had to speak to your grandmother again." Kakashi said suddenly, taking a few steps towards the bed.

Naruto straightened up some more in his chair, and made a move to wipe the sleep dust out of his eyes.

"She wants to see you, Naruto."

Naruto jolted, albeit groggily, in his chair. "_No_." he whispered harshly, looking up to stare hard at Kakashi.

The man sighed. "Your grandmother told me you would disagree…" then he shook his head. "That's why she isn't already on her way here."

Naruto squinted at Kakashi. "So she isn't coming?" he asked suspiciously.

The man shook his head in confirmation.

Naruto relaxed. "Good." He said nodding his head.

"Why don't you want to see your grandmother, Naruto?"

Naruto's eyes flicked to the gray haired man for a split second before he looked away and frowned in the distance.

He could feel the man's stare on the side of his face. "What do you have to lose by telling me, Naruto?" he asked softly.

Naruto almost turned to stare at Kakashi incredulously. Why was the man acting all _concerned_ for? He had no business to be.

Or.

Or maybe his grandmother was paying him to be nice to blonde.

Naruto began to glare into the distance now, and he tightened his small hands into fists. Now everything made sense. Kakashi had been awfully nice to him—_too_ nice to him. He'd let Naruto off easy when anyone else would've probably been thrown in the precinct jail and kept there until some answers were found. Naruto found that he'd rather be that person, than the charity case his grandmother was making him out to be.

"How much is she paying you?" he asked bitterly, and bluntly. There was really no point in beating around the bush.

Kakashi blinked at him. "Excuse me?"

"Baa-chan. How much is she paying you to do this? To be nice to me." Naruto looked up to stare at the gray haired man's face then, so he could show his seriousness.

Said man continued to blink at him, opening and closing his mouth unattractively before spluttering incredulously, "You think your grandmother is _paying_ me?"

Naruto reeled back. He was going to _deny_ it?

"Naruto, " Kakashi started with a shake of his head. "Your grandmother—Tsunade—would kill herself before she has to bribe her ex-boyfriend's son."

Naruto's eyebrows rose to the line of his forehead. "What?"

Kakashi smiled sympathetically at him. "All of that doesn't matter—it was a long time ago but…Tsunade's like family to me."

Naruto stared hard at the gray haired man. His grandmother had tons of men after her, but he never pried into her love life that much. It was just so…wrong. And he'd been too young to be interested in things like that anyway. "That still doesn't explain things." Naruto continued with a hard shake of his head. "Family has hardly been good to me. What makes you—a guy I've only met this morning—any different?"

The gray haired man dropped the sad smile he had to stare at Naruto for several moments. The blonde inched back in nervousness. "What?" he asked.

Finally the man sighed and shook his head, displaying that sad smile again. "I suppose I should tell you." He said lightly. "But promise me, that if I tell you this, you'll tell me why you won't see your grandmother."

Naruto made a small grunting noise of surprise before he shook his head. "No."

The gray haired man smiled at him. "You remind me of my brother."

Naruto blinked. "Huh?"

The man closed his visible and blew out a gusty sigh. "That's the reason I'm being so nice to you—or rather—as nice as I am to you without your grandmother breathing down my back. It's because you remind me of my brother."

Naruto narrowed his eyes. "S…so?"

The man smiled again. "He's dead."

Naruto flinched. How could a man smile and say that? "I'm…" the blonde shook his head. "I'm sorry…but—"

"He died quite a few years ago. He was younger than you are now—sixteen." Kakashi shook his head in wonder when he interrupted. "Although he was a little bit—ah, brighter—perkier, even. Smiling all the time, making jokes out of everything. But a few weeks before his birthday…he began to…" the man paused and looked to the ceiling for words. "He lost a bit of his…light." Kakashi shrugged his shoulders and turned to pace casually around the clinic room. "I didn't think much of it then, because I was too wrapped up in getting my master's degree to actually pay attention to him…"

Naruto shook slightly in his chair. He didn't like where this story was going. His fingers twitched in anticipation and he bit his bottom lip to keep from just screaming for the man to stop.

"But then…on September 17th, 11:34 pm in Hiroku Station Complex, my little brother was shot to the ground by a gang of drug dealers." Kakashi shook his head. "It was a deal gone wrong, apparently," then he chuckled, "I didn't even know my brother was using that stuff."

Naruto felt that beating of his heart slap his chest painfully. Of course it had to be drugs. Of _course_ it had to be drugs.

"Naruto, the only reason why I'm telling you this is because this morning…as you sat in the middle of the hard floor of that jail cell," the man turned around to stare sadly at the blonde, "you looked exactly like my brother the last few days before he was shot."

Naruto jolted again—violently. His fingers began to shake and he hid them between his legs as he stared tearfully at the gray haired man. "I'm—" he started to speak, but stopped when his mouth began to water with the familiar preamble for tears.

The man smiled at him. "You don't have to say anything, Naruto." He said. "I dedicated my life to helping kids like you—like my brother— so I want you to know that what I do and the way I act towards you, is all genuine. I don't want you to be thrown away to a jail cell…because I know you're like the thousands of kids out there who fall into drugs—not because they're bad people, but because circumstances drive them to, or because they're at the wro-ng place at the wrong time," the man's voice broke for the first time. He shook his head before he continued. "I am one hundred percent on your side, Naruto. I want you to know that. You're no longer alone in—whatever it is the life you used to live. So don't _insult_ me by thinking I'm in this for money." Kakashi's voice turned hard at the last sentence, and he stared at Naruto for long moments before his eyes softened.

Naruto was looking up at him incredulously, a wetness still present in the back of his eyes. He wanted to curse at himself. How could he assume that this man…Then he shook his head. He had every right to assume what he did. It was the way his grandmother got her way. He'd made a mistake, he could admit that. But he wasn't sorry for looking out for fake relationships.

"Your turn." Kakashi said suddenly. He smiled at Naruto.

Naruto looked to him questioningly.

"Tell me why you won't see your grandmother."

Naruto twitched lightly. He didn't want to tell him why. The man would ask questions, or worse, he might think his reasons were stupid because he wouldn't _understand_. Naruto stared hard at the gray haired man before shaking his head. "I…don't want to tell you." He said lightly.

Kakashi stared at him for long moments. "Then what will I tell your grandmother?"

"Tell her to _wait_." the blonde responded almost angrily. "That's all I want her to do. I want her to wait for me—I want her to stop looking out for me and just—"

"Wait for _what_?" Kakashi asked calmly, but insistently.

"Just tell her to wait! She doesn't need to know—I mean, I _did_ tell her—over the phone—but I didn't—I mean—"

"Naruto." Kakashi said softly. He stepped a little close to the bed. "What do you want your grandmother to wait for?"

The man—Kakashi—was eyeing him with sympathy in his eyes, and understanding, and calmness—Naruto hated it. It pissed him _off_. He wanted the man to leave alone. He didn't know why he was feeling so flustered all of the sudden, but all he knew was that he wanted that man to get the hell out of Kiba's room—

"Get out." He grounded out. The shaking in his hands was becoming uncontrollable, and he wrapped them around each other to lessen it.

He didn't know what it was, but something flashed through Kakashi's eyes. "Not until you tell me, Naruto." He said in that damned _sympathetic_ voice.

"I said get out!" Naruto screamed, and he stood from his chair violently enough to send it knocking to the ground. He didn't know what was _wrong_ with him. He was beginning to see red and the sight of Kakashi's pity just pissed. Him. _Off_. His hands were spasming at his sides now. He couldn't control them, and he didn't know _why_.

The gray haired man's eyes flicked to Naruto's hands once, and a deep frown settled on his brow. "Naruto—"

"It's because I'm not _ready_ yet!" the blonde screamed, his whole body suddenly racking. He didn't know what he was saying—why he was saying it. It was like his mind was suddenly being taken over by some foreign thing he couldn't see or hear—"It's because I'm too _different_!" he screamed again, louder than last time. Naruto settled back into himself in horror—but his body was still moving on his on—his mouth still moving on its own—"I have to go back! I have to go back to who I used to be before I can—"

"Naruto!"

_Naruto_! the blonde called out to himself. Suddenly separate from his body. It was like he hovered over it, watching it make a fool of itself—shaking, trembling—just he did when he was in the—

Naruto's eyes went wide.

It was just like the time in the grocery store.

Naruto shook violently, and like a splash of water, he was suddenly back inside of himself, with control of his mouth, but no control over the rest of his body—shaking, shivering—

Naruto opened his eyes. H-how long were his eyes closed? Naruto's eyes widened, and he jerked. Since when was Kakashi was so close to him—touching his shoulders, gripping him with panic in his eyes. The gray haired man was screaming something in his face, but Naruto couldn't hear a word. He felt a wetness drip onto his lips, but he couldn't pay attention to that now—not when he was—

"S-s-so c-c-cold."

"What?"

Ah. Kakashi's voice. Or was it the voice in his head? No. it was Kakashi. The voice in his head sounded harsher than that.

"Naruto, _Naruto_—you're _bleeding_. You need to—"

No. It didn't matter that he was bleeding, Naruto wanted to scream, but his eyes were flickering rapidly open and closed and he couldn't _see_ straight. What mattered was that he was freaking _cold_, and he needed something to warm him up—

"Damn it, _Naruto_!"

Was that the voice in his head? No. The voice in his head never showed concern.

"Doctor!"

Too much shouting, Naruto wanted to pull away from whoever was holding him—who was holding him again?— but there was a circle of heat surrounding the man. He couldn't leave that heat. It was too cold. Much too cold. So Naruto reached out, and hugged the person. The person, whoever it was, stiffened.

"It's so cold." He whispered into the person's chest. "It's so cold."

No. It wasn't cold.

It was fucking freezing.

Another shiver racked his body, and Naruto dug his fingers into the man's back. "S-s-so cold."

He felt hands pull him tighter into a hug.

And then—

_Warmth_.

Naruto sighed.

Yes. It was becoming warmer now.

He could breathe now.

It wasn't as cold anymore.

His hands were shaking anymore.

The blonde breathed deeply.

And then—

Everything came back.

Naruto jerked against Kakashi's arms. Yes, yes. These were _Kakashi's_ arms.

He pulled back hastily and stared with apprehensiveness and shock into the man's eyes. "I—  
he started to say, but stopped when an strange taste entered his mouth.

He put a finger to his lips.

Blood.

Naruto gasped inwardly, and traced the blood on his lips to his nose. He dabbed the liquid incredulously before he tried to wipe it messily with his arms.

"Stop that, Naruto." Kakashi said softly.

Naruto looked up at him, the same incredulity on his face. That looked only deepened, when he saw the pain in Kakashi's eyes. "Wh…what?"

The gray haired man's eyebrows turned up in disbelief. "Do you have any idea what just happened to you?" he whispered.

Naruto blinked. He had a few ideas. He had another episode. Not having the drugs to spike him up in so long—not that he _wanted_ them to—came with its consequences. He could deal with that.

Kakashi opened his mouth to say something again, but the door to the room opened. The red-eyed woman came in. She paused at the door when she saw Naruto, but Kakashi had her back turned to her. "Ah…was there a fight in here?" she asked, closing the door behind her.

There was silence for several moments. When Naruto was finally about to speak, Kakashi turned to speak instead. "Kurenai. It's nice to see you again." Even when his back was turned to him, Naruto knew the man was probably giving the woman a small sad smile, like he always seemed to do.

Kurenai nodded her head. "Nice to see you too, Hatake." She said cautiously. "How's Hinata and the baby?"

Naruto narrowed his eyes. Hinata? Why did that name sound familiar?

"She's alright." The man said distantly. Then he cleared his voice and looked back at Naruto for a moment. "Can you bring someone to clean Naruto up?" he asked the woman, turning back to her. "He had a nose bleed."

Kurenai blinked. "Well how did he—"

"Can I talk to you outside?" Kakashi said, interrupting her.

Naruto couldn't see the look on Kakashi's face, but whatever was there, made the woman shut up and nod her head gravely. The red eyed woman nodded to Naruto once, before she opened the door to step out. A few long strides later, Kakashi was out with her.

"We'll bring someone to clean you up, Naruto." he heard the woman call out, before the door was closed in his face.

Naruto stared at the closed door for a moment confusedly before he shook his head.

He had had another attack. It had been…strange. It didn't hurt. And the voice never came so…he supposed he could handle it if more came.

Naruto looked dazedly at his hands. He was going through a withdrawal of some sort. He'd experienced something like it, in the back of his high school when he went for a several days without having any kind of fix. Naruto wrinkled his nose. But it had only been a _few_ days now. Why was he going through this now? What the hell was in those drugs Zabuza gave him?

The blonde shook his head.

It didn't matter what it was. As long as he didn't go anywhere near it.

Naruto would've smiled at this if it weren't for the events that just passed. A month ago he would've gone desperately searching for drugs to prevent himself from feeling the effects of not having them. And to feel good of course. There was always that.

After he stared at his still lightly trembling hands, and the smear of blood at his arms, Naruto reached to pick up the chair he couldn't remember knocking on the floor.

Then there was a movement at his door. "Room service!"

Naruto looked up. What?

He saw the desk nurse from earlier, Sadako, coming up to him with a small white box in her hands. She closed the door behind her with her foot and stopped in front of the other side of the bed. Then she stared at Naruto.

Naruto blinked back at her. "…Ah…are you here to…clean me—"

"So what's the dog's name?" she asked, interrupting him, chirping as she did so.

Naruto blinked. "Her name is Kiba."

The woman's face suddenly turned sour. "Her? _Kiba_? That's a boy's name. Nuh uh. No good, sir. Change it."

Naruto raised an eyebrow. "Uhm—"

"Or!" the woman exclaimed. "Your dog is a lesbian." She hopped once. "In that case, it's quite understandable."

Naruto felt his eyes go wide. "I don't—"

"Let's get you cleaned up, shall we?" her voice suddenly turned serious and she stalked around the bed to step right in front of Naruto. She was only a few inches taller than the blonde, but Naruto still felt intimidated by her. "Sit down." The woman growled. Naruto did as he was told. Then the woman crouched down on the floor with the box and opened it. She had her head down as she rummaged through it, taking out things Naruto couldn't really pay attention to because he was so weirded out. When the woman picked her head up however, she had a tragic look on her face. "Give me your arm, please." She said, with a voice that was thick—as if she was going to cry.

Naruto blinked at her. He extended his arms hesitantly, stretching it as far as the bandages on his elbows would let him. "Uhm—"

"I was fired from my position again." the woman said as she began scrubbing the blonde's bloody arm with a wet towel that stunk with something alcoholic.

Meanwhile Naruto nearly jerked away. Fired? Then what was this woman still doing here—?

"I suppose it's alright. Maybe I'm not meant to be a desk nurse. I'll have to go back to being a _stupid_— Blow." She cut herself off and extended a tissue to Naruto with her free hand. "Get as much blood as you can on the tissue—try not to make a mess." She was sounding all professional now, as if she hadn't been on the verge of tears just moments before.

Naruto squinted his eyes apprehensively. This woman was crazy.

The door opened then. Naruto saw Kakashi enter the room with Kurenai right behind him. Both had solemn looks on their faces. As if they regretted what they were about to do.

Naruto stared back at them apprehensively.

"Sadako. Have you finished cleaning Naruto up?"

The nurse tending to him looked up suddenly; she didn't notice them walking in. "Kurenai-sensei. Ah—almost."

Naruto saw Kurenai narrow her eyes at the nurse's job. She smiled then, and nodded her head. I think he'll be good for the time being, Sadako. For now, Kakashi and I need to speak to Naruto privately."

Naruto clenched his mouth in fear. Damn it, now what?

Sadako stood up from her position and grabbed the paper Naruto was holding to his nose violently.

"Sadako." Kurenai said with a shake of her head. "Don't be rude."

Sadako pouted at her before her face magically morphed into one of pure sadness. "I'm so…sorry." She half-sobbed.

Naruto blinked up at her. Yes. This woman definitely had something wrong with her.

"Why don't you go give Gaara company?" Kurenai said lightly. "Just remember to stay away from the desk. You're on punishment for screaming at one of our incoming patients."

The nurse actually stuck her _tongue_ at the woman before she hopped out of the room.

Naruto squinted after her before he shook his head. "What's…" he paused to look at Kurenai. "What's… wrong with her?"

Kurenai laughed. "Wrong? Nothing's _wrong_ with her. She's just being her normal…bi-polar self."

Naruto frowned lightly. He didn't know what bi-polar was.

Kurenai must've seen the confusion in his face because she began to speak again. "She came from the same institution as Gaara. She's an MR F—surely you already knew that...?"

Naruto blinked. _What_?

Kakashi coughed lightly. "Ah, he doesn't know anything about that, Kurenai."

Kurenai turned to him. "Huh? But I thought you said Gaara was his parole officer."

Naruto saw Kakashi looking slightly out of place. "Gaara is. It's just…I don't think Naruto needs to know. Not yet."

Naruto wanted to ask what the hell they were talking about, but Kurenai shook her head and began to speak instead. "Aside from all that, Naruto, there's something important we need to talk about." She walked forwards until her knees hit the other side of the bed. She looked at Naruto with serious eyes. "Kakashi informed me of your situation earlier, but it seems it goes deeper than he thought."

Naruto blinked at her. "What are you—"

"We need to know how violent your withdrawal attacks are, how often you have them, and what happens when you have them Naruto."

"What? I—"

"And once we've established that, we're going to work on locating you into a rehabilitation center."

Now _that_, Naruto understood. "No!" he half shouted, standing up in chair once again. "I am _not_—"

"Naruto." Kakashi said from behind Kurenai. "What makes you think you don't need it?" he asked softly. "You told me yourself that you wanted to be the same way you used to be for your grandmother. How can you do that by just suffering through these attacks and doing nothing about—"

"I don't _need_ the center." Naruto growled out. "I don't need it. All you have to do to get over the drugs is to stop using them. That's all it takes. I've _stopped_. I don't need the center."

Naruto had his fists clenched to his sides, and he was talking very slowly. He needed the people in front of him to understand. If he flew off the handle, they would put him in the wacky house ten times faster.

"Naruto," Kakashi started again. "Who's to say that one of your friends will contact you, and pressure you into using agai—"

"I _have_ no friends—"

"That doesn't mean the influence isn't there. We checked out where you live, Naruto. It's so easy to get drugs where you're from—"

"But I'm not _going_ to. I told you, I'm through with it. I have no reason to—"

"We still have to send you to the institution, Naruto." Kurenai said with a shake of her head. "If what Kakashi told me is true, then you need a lot of help. A sequence of spasmodic withdrawal attacks can lead to seizures and heart attacks if they're not properly monitored, and you won't find any of that in this clinic or in your apartment, Naruto. You have to go to a rehabilitation center."

Naruto stared at the two in incredulous disbelief before he shook his head again. "I don't—they don't—I don't _need_ a center!" he finally shouted. He waved his hands angrily before he turned to stare hard at Kakashi and Kurenai. "All they do is stand by your bed, and tell you how much of a _failure_ you are, and inject you with needles that calm you down when you cause a riot, and when you come out all you want to do is _use_ again. I know because, my friends—m-my _friend_—they—_he_ went and it didn't—i-it didn't _work_." Naruto growled out the last bit, and collapsed back into his chair. "I don't want to go to a place where they'll know I'm a freak, and laugh at me when I fail at everything. I don't _need_ it. I don't need it. I don't. I don't need it. That. I don't need that." The blonde gave one final long shiver before breathed deeply, and leaned silently back into his chair.

There was silence in the room for several moments.

"Naruto."

The blonde didn't move. He stayed in his position, leaning back in his chair staring into the distance with a light frown on his face.

"Listen to me, Naruto." that was Kakashi's voice. "You're lucky, you know that? If it weren't for your grandmother, you would've been through a trial. There would have been a court case, you would have had a dead beat good for nothing lawyer who would have only been able to guarantee you two years _minimum_ in jail for possession of drugs, and maybe, _just_ maybe, the alternate of a rehabilitation center. Because you _do_ have a grandmother, because you _are_ lucky, you have a choice. You have a choice to get help. You have a choice to let go of your insecurities and trust us—Kurenai and I—to find a center that will treat you with respect and help you save your life. To help your grandmother see you the way you used to be."

Naruto didn't reply, but his fists clenched together.

"It's your choice, Naruto." Kurenai said lightly. "I really hope you make the right one."

"I _have_ made the right one." Naruto grumbled bitterly. He looked up and glared at the both of them. "I've stopped. And I'm never going to do it again. The drugs. The attacks—the withdrawals—they don't matter. I'm—" Naruto cursed inwardly when he felt a tear escape the bottom lid of his eye. "I'm _changing_. I don't need any more doctors telling me that I'm fucked up. I _know_ that, and I'm _changing_." Naruto sniffed the string of snot that was threatening to come out his nose. He was thinking about too many things at once. His life, his failures, _Kiba_, who'd been in and out of rehabilitation centers so _many_ fucking times—"All I need is Kiba." Naruto said pathetically. "If she's here—a-as long as she's alive, a-and as long as Baa-chan waits for me…I'll be…I'll be _fine_." Naruto looked over at Kiba then, who was panting loudly in her sleep. "This…" Naruto said reaching to smooth the dog's paw, "will always be enough to keep me from the drugs."

More silence followed, but Naruto didn't look up at Kurenai and Kakashi. He was too busy smoothing out the fur on Kiba's paw. The dog didn't stir. Kurenai told him that she was on a heavy dose of something that would keep her asleep for hours.

Finally, Kakashi cleared his throat. "In that case," He said lightly. "I can't force you to go to the center, Naruto. However, I will take measures so that you do not have a chance to ever become influenced by the drugs again." Kakashi sighed and shook his head. "I can't allow you to stay at that apartment of yours any longer."

Naruto's eyes widened and looked up at Kakashi incredulously. "What do you mean you're can't—" then Naruto stopped and adopted a look of horror. "You…" he started gravely. "You're going to send me to my grandmother." It wasn't a question.

Kakashi put his head down. "It's the only way to keep you safe, Naruto."

"Bullshit!" Naruto screamed, standing up violently for the third time. "I told you that I don't want Baa-chan seeing me like th—"

"Naruto, your grandmother will love you no matter what you've don—"

"Fuck you!" Naruto screamed. It took him every inch of his will power not to pull at his hair. "You don't understand _anything_!" Naruto was shaking again, but it was from his anger more than anything else. "Baa-chan is _sixty_ years old! She pretends to be strong, but she's _not_—I _know_ she's not. I don't want to hurt her anymore, I _can't_ hurt her again! She has to _wait_! It will destroy her if she _sees_ me like this!"

Kakashi looked at Naruto with struggling eyes. He stared at the wide grey-blue eyes, and the hollowness that seemed to surround them. He looked at the stick like arms, and the gaunt face that was all skin and angles. If he was seeing his grandson for the first time after so many years, and had to come to face with this unhealthy body, he supposed he would break down. "What the hell do you suppose I do, then?" Kakashi said, raising his voice frustratingly. "What do you suppose _we_ do, Naruto? You don't want to go to a rehabilitation center, you don't want to go back to your grandmother—god _damn_ it, Naruto, you're _sick_. You need _help_, and you're refusing every—"

"Just let me do it _my_ way!" Naruto screamed. He couldn't help it now; he pulled at his hair. "Just let me get through this myself! What's so fucking hard?"

"Naruto—" that was Kurenai.

"I'm not your fucking _brother_, alright!" Naruto continued, pointing an angry finger at Kakashi. "I'm not in a _gang_, I'm not gonna get fucking _shot_—alright! I've _stopped_! I'll never use again. Get that through your thick fucking skull and stop making me your stupid charity case because your brother died! You're not _helping_ me—you're _not_."

"_Naruto_!" Kurenai cried in disbelief.

Kakashi stood behind her, a blank look on his face. He stared at Naruto for several long moments, and the tension between the two men never wavered. "Alright then." He said after several moments of tense silence. He ran a tired hand through his hair and looked away from Naruto. "I'm going back to the station. Kurenai, call me when Naruto's realized that stabbing old wounds won't get him anywhere."

"Kakashi—"

"Don't contact me until then, Kurenai. In the meantime," Kakashi said, giving Naruto one last look before he exited out of the door, "you can remind Naruto that visiting hours are over." And with that he left the room.

Naruto stared after the gray haired man, breathing harshly. Then he sat back onto his chair, sighing gustily. He unclenched his fists slowly put his head in his hands.

Kurenai didn't say anything for long moments. Instead she hovered over Kiba, taking notes as she did so, and moved wires around so she could get a good look at the dog's condition. After a few minutes, she pulled back from the bed and sighed. "Kakashi's right." She said putting a stray lock of hair behind her ear. "Visiting hours are over."

Naruto looked up at her with blank, distant eyes.

Kurenai looked away. "There are—conditions. This is a multi-clinic so we sometimes accept in-patients—like your dog, but most people don't have to stay the night. We're a little different because we've established ourselves on all medical fields. Like I said, we're a multi-clinic. Some family members choose to stay the night. But they—fill out—_papers_. Sometimes they stay because it's a child in the clinic, or a woman has just given birth, or the person just doesn't have that much time to live— during which case they're usually sent to a hospital but—"

"Let me sign the papers." Naruto said at once. He sat up in chair then, because the way Kurenai was talking unnerved him. She was explaining too much when she should've just given him the papers to sign already.

"I'm afraid I can't do that." Kurenai said with a shake of her head.

Naruto chose not to answer. Instead he stared at her.

Kurenai shook her head again and continued. "Naruto…" she began softly. "In your condition…"

Naruto shut his eyes and put his head back into his hands. Of _course_.

"Listen to me, Naruto." the doctor said raising her voice. "You're not…stable. I would've gladly swore on my life to trust you in this room alone with the dog—I know you're not going to harm anyone—but I'm afraid that in the condition you're in—these—_attacks_—I just—I can't let you stay here. It's for your own safety."

Naruto said nothing.

"Someone needs to supervise you, Naruto. That's why Kakashi mentioned the center…"

Naruto still said nothing.

"It will help you, Naruto." she continued. "You'll be surrounded by experts day and night, and they'll—"

"Gaara." Naruto said suddenly.

Kurenai paused. "What?"

"Gaara." Naruto said again, picking his head up. "He can stay in the room with me. All night. He'll watch and make sure that I don't—"

"And don't you think Gaara needs _his_ rest too?" Kurenai asked incredulously.

Naruto blinked. "He's my parole officer." He said lightly, as if it was obvious. "It's his job to stay and watch me. Kakashi said that if I—"

"No." Kurenai said with a jerk of her head. "Surely Kakashi put restrictions? Gaara can't be used like that. Not again."

Naruto stared at her disbelievingly. "What are you talking about?"

Kurenai shook her head and backed away from the bed. "Please, Naruto. You're welcomed to come visit your dog anytime you want to—during visiting hours—but for now you have to leave. Go home and rest."

Naruto stared at her with a look that said screamed betrayal. "How will I get home? The car I came in is—"

"I will make arrangements for you and Gaara to be sent home." She said cutting him off. "For now, you have to leave."

Naruto glared at her. Why the hell was she being so defensive? All he did was suggest that Gaara stay the night. Kakashi did say something about not abusing parole officers, but Naruto hardly thought this was abuse. It was the redhead's _job_ to watch him.

"Fine." Naruto said standing up angrily. "But…" he softened then, because his eyes traveled to Kiba's sleeping form. "When will I be able to take her home…?"

Kurenai looked at the dog for a moment before she sighed. "If all goes well," she began softly. "In a few weeks."

Naruto nodded his head and began to walk towards the door.

"But Naruto," she continued as Naruto put his hand on the door knob. "The place you live in…after what Kakashi's told you…do you really think that it's the best place you should bring a helpless animal to?"

Naruto gritted his teeth as he pulled the door open and stalked out of the room.

He walked blindly down the hall, swiping his fingers across his eyes constantly to keep away the tears. It was just as he thought. No one understood. No one understood what he was trying to do, but worse than that was that no one _believed_ in him. They thought he couldn't do it. Kakashi spoke to him like he knew everything and anything about troubled addicted children, but he knew nothing about Naruto. Nothing at all. If Naruto said he was going to do something, if he said he was going to change, he damned well was going to do it—without the help of some rehabilitation center. He didn't need that. All he needed was Kiba and baa-chan. Those were the only people who he really wanted to have faith in him, because they were the ones he was fighting for.

Naruto knew his apartment wasn't ideal, but it was enough to keep the rain out. He would bring Kiba there when she was healthy again, and make the best of it. He would take her on walks so she wouldn't have to see the dirty apartment all the time, he'd run up the stairs with her so she didn't have to suffer the terrible smell of feces and marijuana on the staircases too long, he would clean the place up and allow her to sleep on his bed, he'd give her the bigger portion of the bed and wrap her around sheets so she was always warm. He'd do _everything_ for her. It didn't matter if his apartment was crap. He was going to work it out, and damned if he was going to tell know-it-all Kakashi tell him otherwise.

Naruto stopped in the middle of the hallway then, because right in front of him was a dead end. The blonde blinked and turned around. The hallway was mostly empty. There were a few nurses walking about with clipboards against their chests, and what looked like patients exiting offices with doctors. Naruto decided to follow one.

Naruto didn't know the difference between a hospital and a clinic. This place seemed considerably larger than the hospital he had been in, but ten times friendlier. Everyone was smiling and laughing with each other. Even the patients in wheel chairs and the senior citizens being aided by nurses seemed genuinely happy. Naruto wondered idly if the rest of the staff was as crazy as the Sadako woman was.

He realized that following the man in front of him would end in vain. The man was heading towards the bathroom, not the exit. Naruto sighed. Even if the man did lead him to the exit, he couldn't leave. He was supposed to be under Gaara's watch at all times, first of all. Secondly, he wouldn't know how to get home from the clinic.

With another shake of his head, Naruto began to walk around the clinic. It couldn't be so hard to find red hair, right?

* * *

Thirty minutes.

It took thirty minutes to find red hair. By this time Naruto had walked into every ward in the clinic, and almost everyone knew his name. The people in the clinic were so nice it unnerved Naruto. He was used to people being rude to him when he asked for directions, but these people, especially the senior citizens, beamed at him whenever he repeated, "have you seen a policeman with red hair?"

It went to the point where he was asking people the same thing twice. A few of the older women laughed at him as he went by, and by the end of the thirty minutes, people were calling him by his name and asking, "did you find him yet?"

Naruto supposed he was enjoying the attention, but he couldn't have helped from wondering if the redhead left him alone in the hospital to fend for himself.

Finally, after a half hour search, Naruto saw that red blob in the distance, standing very still in front of what looked like a glass frame, with a familiar nurse sitting on the floor beside him with her legs sprawled in front of her.

Naruto didn't call out to him. Instead he walked towards them silently. He didn't want to call out to the man and find out that he wasn't Gaara after all.

Alas, several yards away, it became obvious that it was Gaara in the distance, staring into the glass of a maternity ward. Sadako saw him first, and waved maniacally from the floor before putting a finger to her lips. "Shh…" she started. "This is Gaara's favorite show."

Naruto blinked at her. Then he took a look at glass the redhead was staring at. Behind the glass were two babies. One in pink, the other in blue. They were both asleep, and a nurse stood sitting at a chair beside the infants, eyes drooping with weariness. The babies were cute, he supposed, if people were into pink crunched up faces.

He turned away from the babies and looked at Gaara's back. His broad shoulders didn't budge, and his hands lied unmoving at his sides. He was breathing shallowly, like he always seemed to be doing. "Uh…Gaara…" Naruto started softly.

He was only half surprised when Sadako waved maniacally from the floor again, and 'shh' ed him. Naruto blinked at her, and then looked back at Gaara's broad back. He wrinkled his nose. How long had Gaara been standing there?

With a sigh, the blonde walked towards the wall, and stood beside Sadako. Then he slid down to the floor, so he could sit the way the nurse was sitting. He didn't sprawl his legs in front of him like she was doing. Instead he brought his knees to his chest and stared at the wall in front of him.

"Hey." Sadako whispered next to him.

Naruto turned to look at her warily. "Yes?"

"Are you Gaara's friend?"

Naruto blinked. "Uhm. I don't—I don't know."

The woman stared at him incredulously. "Then why do you follow him around?"

Naruto opened his mouth, and then he closed it again. He didn't really know how to explain to someone like Sadako how he was under suspicion of having illegal drugs and had to be kept under a parole officer. "I…" he started lamely. "Gaara has to…take care of me."

Sadako nodded her head like she understood and patted his shoulder. "Good, good." She said, still nodding her head. "Gaara knows how to take care of people."

Naruto looked at the woman blankly. "Is that so?" he responded softly. They were still whispering.

The nurse nodded her head some more. "Gaara is always taking care of things." Then she pouted and looked at the wall ahead of her with sad eyes.

Naruto squinted at her. "What's wrong?"

Sadako looked at him with tragic eyes. "Gaara's always helping people…but he's always sad."

Naruto blinked at that. Then he looked up at the redhead staring at the glass window with a small frown. From his position, he could only see the redhead's chin, throat, and the clothes that wore on his body. "Sad?" he asked. "How so?"

Sadako suddenly lost the teary look to her eyes and shrugged her shoulders. "He's always losing things." She said with a nod of her head.

"Losing things?" Naruto repeated.

"Yes. Things. People." She shrugged her shoulders again and yawned.

Naruto frowned at her. "People?" he took a quick glance up at the redhead and whispered, "You mean…like…dead people?"

Sadako looked at him with wide serious eyes. Naruto didn't realize how close they were, so he reeled back. "Not everything dies when you lose it." She growled at him. "You just can't see them." She glared at Naruto hard before a smile suddenly lit up her face. "Gaara's lost a lot of things. Dead things. Living things. He's lost them all." She made a strange weird weaving motion with her hands. "And he's sad…Not because he can't find them…"she looked at Naruto then, with the most sober eyes he'd ever seen on her face. "But because he doesn't know what he's lost."

Naruto blinked at her warily.

"If you want to be his friend," she whispered, inching closer to him. "you have to help him look for them."

Naruto shook his head confusedly. "Look for _what_?"

The woman only smiled at him. Then she stood up suddenly, and clapped her hands. "It's ten o'clock!" she shouted. "Do you know where _your_ children are!"

Naruto stared up at the woman incredulously before he stood up himself. He looked at the nurse for long moments before asked, "What…what kind of nurse are you?"

Sadako stopped hopping and turned to face him with a beaming smile. "Oh, I'm not a nurse." She said offhandedly. "I'm a _patient_~" Then she winked at him, and spun in a circle.

Naruto stared back with wide eyes. "What? How can you be a patient when…when you're…" Naruto shook his head. "You treated me."

"Nurse Sadako, at your service." She bowed. When she looked up again, she had a smirk on her face.

Naruto gave up then, because, honestly, where was he going to get with this woman?

"Kurenai-sensei!" Sadako shouted then, and pointed behind Naruto's head. When the blonde turned around, the red-eyed woman was indeed walking towards them quickly. She paused slightly when she saw Naruto, but continued none-the-less.

"Sadako." Kurenai started warningly. "It's passed nine thirty. Why are you still wearing the nurse's outfit?"

Naruto blinked. Were they serious? He had noticed that Sadako was the only one wearing a purple nurse's attire. But he thought was because she was the desk nurse.

Sadako crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow at Kurenai. "Who are you to tell me I can't wear a nurse's outfit?" she said in a man's voice.

Naruto had to stutter at that.

Kurenai only shook her head and pointed down the hall. "Take it off, and go to your room."

Sadako's face fell. "But—"

"I'll take away your desk nurse privileges forever."

Sadako started walking down the hall without a word.

Kurenai watched her go for several moments before she turned back to the two men. She eyed Naruto for a few wary moments before she walked up to Gaara, who was still looking through the glass. She put a hand on his arm. The redhead, ever so slowly, turned his head to look at her. Kurenai smiled at him. "Gaara." She said lightly. "Your car's been sent to the auto shop for reconstruction. Your brother's coming to take you and Naruto home. I'm sorry; taxis don't run this late around this area."

Gaara continued to stare at her. Kurenai only continued to smile. "I know Kankuro can be trouble sometimes, but I don't want you taking public transportation so late." She patted the redhead lightly on the arm before she inclined her head towards Naruto. "You can take him to the lobby and wait for Kankuro to come and pick you up, alright?"

The red eyed woman took both of Gaara's shoulders then, and turned him around so they faced each other fully. When the Kurenai spoke again, it was in a whisper and Naruto couldn't hear her. Naruto raised an eyebrow at that. The doctor's back was to him, but he could still see Gaara's head towering over her, bending slightly so he could hear. There was no expression on the policeman's face so Naruto couldn't really guess what kind of news the woman was telling him.

After maybe a few minutes, Kurenai pulled away from him but still kept her hands on his arms. "This is still your choice, Gaara. I want you to know that you will always have a choice. Now tell me, are you okay with this?"

Naruto blinked and looked at the redhead. Gaara looked back down at Kurenai for a few moments before he nodded his head lightly.

Kurenai's back was to Naruto, but he thought she was smiling. He was going to say something, but had to pause when he saw green eyes shift to meet his own. The blonde felt his breath hitch.

The redhead blinked owlishly at him, before he turned from Kurenai, and began walking down the hall. Kurenai let her hand linger on Gaara's arm before he was far enough away for her fingers to fall.

Then she turned to the blonde and wagged a finger in his face. "This is for your own good." she said forcefully. "Remember that."

Naruto stared at the woman confusedly. He would have asked what she meant, but she was already walking down the hall. A few moments later, he got his feet to work again. He followed the redhead cautiously, who was walking slowly but with long enough steps to give the blonde a bit of catching up to do. Naruto turned to look back at Kurenai one last time and saw her shaking her head and turning away. Naruto frowned at that, and continued to walk behind the redhead. The walk was longer than Naruto anticipated. This clinic had so many hallways that led to so many different directions. Anyone would get lost were it not for the small plaque signs on the walls that pointed to the direction of every set of rooms.

When they finally entered the lobby, Naruto saw a set of chairs he hadn't seen before. The chairs were set in four rows, and Gaara sat in the first one. Naruto hesitated before he sat in the chair next to the redhead. Gaara's knees, just like they did in the clinic bed, gradually spread until Naruto's knees were touching his thigh. Gaara sat in a hunched position, with his hands dangling between his legs and his back curved in a way that suggested flexibility.

Naruto sat awkwardly. What felt like his butt bone was being crushed as he sat down on the hard chair, and he was getting tired. He'd woken up more than an hour ago, so he wondered why he was getting tired already. He supposed the events of today had tired him out. Too many arguments, too much drama. He wanted to flush everything out and just relax.

It wasn't working. The lack of comfort in the chair made him squirm impatiently, and he sighed. What was he going to do now? He looked up at the redhead then, who was staring impassively ahead of him, in the same position, unmoving. Naruto squinted at Gaara for a moment, before he inhaled deeply. Sometimes he still couldn't believe he was in the position he was in. He felt as if everything was somehow all a dream, and he would wake up back in the first hospital—or even worse, back in the streets with suspicious powder clinging to his nose and begging for money.

Naruto wrinkled his nose. He would rather be here, with Kakashi breathing down his back, and Kurenai forcing him to go to a rehabilitation center than be in a place as dark as his past. The drugs, the severed relationships—it was all too much.

He would—

He would rather be here.

There was a scuffle at the entrance of the clinic, and Naruto heard heavy footsteps push through the door. When the blonde turned to look, he saw the muscular policeman he'd seen earlier, stalking towards the—new—desk nurse with a scowl on his face. He spoke to the woman for a short while, before he jerked his head with searching eyes. He didn't have his uniform on, but he didn't look any less intimidating in the dark jeans and shirt, that could have been either blue or black from what Naruto could see in his position.

Finally, the man's eyes found on his. The man nodded to the desk nurse viciously before stomping over to them.

Naruto gulped and reared back a bit. He turned to Gaara. The redhead had his head down still, and his hands hung idly between his legs. His hair covered his eyes, so Naruto didn't know if they were closed or not.

"Ah…"he started tentatively. "Gaa—"

"Gaara!" The man was a few yards away from them now. He ignored Naruto completely but glared hard at Gaara's fallen head.

The redhead didn't stir for a long moment, and the muscular man huffed viciously before he walked closer to the two. He was about to say something else, but something stopped him. Naruto heard shuffling on his left side. When he turned, he saw Gaara lifting his head up with eyes barely open. He didn't look tired, but he looked…chill. As if an earthquake could bring down the clinic and he still wouldn't bat an eye.

Gaara stood up then, and Naruto, in a rush, stood up with him. The blonde had to flush when Gaara kept going up, up, up with his height and Naruto was forced to compare his own with the redhead.

The muscular policeman walked until he was right in front of Gaara, pushing past Naruto to get there. Naruto rubbed the arm the man pushed indignantly and tried to glare up at the man, but stopped short when he saw the way he was staring down at Gaara.

The man was maybe an inch shorter than the strange policeman, but the muscles and his glare was enough for that not to matter.

"Listen to me, Gaara." The man said lowly, getting close to Gaara's face.

Gaara didn't look at him. Instead he had is head slightly to the side and had a thin line across his mouth. There was the barest tightening at the corner of his eyes, which was the only thing that told Naruto he was feeling _something_ in the face of the man.

"Sakura's in the car," the man continued. Then he pointed an accusing finger at the man's chest. "I don't want you to _talk_ to her, attempt to _touch_ her— I don't even want you to do any of that _staring_. She didn't want to be here, but I had no choice to bring her."

Naruto raised his brow at this. What was the man talking about?

"Do you understand me, Gaara?"

Gaara said nothing. He stayed in the same position, with his head casted to the side. Then Naruto saw it: the smallest tightening of his eye, the slight crinkle on his nose. It was as if—

"I asked if you under_stood_ me, Gaara." The man said again, grounding it out so it sounded like a growl. He let out a revolted sound then, and in a movement that almost went unnoticed Naruto, took Gaara's jaw with his hand so the redhead could face him, "I _asked_ if you underst—"

_Fwap_—_!_

Naruto couldn't help it. He jumped. Gaara, in a motion so swift, lifted the hand that always seemed dormant at his sides, and smacked the hand gripping his jaw.

Naruto blinked a bit. The hand on Gaara's face—for some reason that gesture was familiar to him. Then Naruto gasped inwardly. He remembered now. Back at the hospital, the blonde woman—what was her name? Ino?—had done the same thing. She had taken Gaara's jaw out of frustration or irritation because the redhead wouldn't _listen _and now the muscular man was doing it to and—

Naruto's thoughts had to stop short when he realized they weren't keeping up with the situation at hand. Why did people talk to Gaara as if he…as if he…

Naruto didn't know what word to put to it. People were cautious or angry around the redhead. It didn't make any sense.

He heard a huff ahead of him, and when he looked up at the tall men, he saw the muscular one grinning viciously. "Resulting to violence already?" he asked lowly.

Naruto would've taken the time to try and understand what the man was talking about, but he was too wrapped up in the look on Gaara's face. It wasn't obvious, it never was, but Naruto saw. He saw the way the redhead's hands were twitching lightly at his sides, the way his mouth quivered at the corners, and his eyes, _gods_ his eyes. Gaara's eyes were narrowed in a way the blonde had never seen them before, and the sides of his nose were crinkled slightly, as if he was squeezing his face from the inside. Gaara looked—

He looked murderous.

Naruto shook a bit, but he…he wasn't scared. No. No, he wasn't. There was something there, yes. Maybe a little bit of apprehensiveness bubbling in his tummy, but there wasn't any concrete fear. Instead there stood….what was that feeling? Concern? It was a little like what he felt when they had told him earlier in the day that Kiba couldn't eat dog food yet. Naruto had worried about the dog's nutrition, and now he was worried about Gaara's…Gaara's what?

Naruto blinked. The two men in front of him were glaring at each other, albeit the brown haired man's eyes weren't anywhere near as vicious as Gaara's were. The time that passed were mere seconds, Naruto knew this, but they went by like crawling snails.

And then Naruto knew why. It was because he was going to make a decision.

He stepped forwards—hesitantly; (he wasn't a man of steel after all)—and, with the familiar build of apprehension in his stomach, took a _hold_ of Gaara's index finger. Naruto felt the shock of cold skin rush through him the way one would feel cold breeze on wet hair. "Gaara." he said, low enough not to truly disturb him, but loud enough for the man to hear.

Gaara stayed incredible still. His finger didn't twitch or move away the way anyone else's would after sudden contact. Naruto held his head downcast and contemplated what to do next.

Instead of a reaction from the redhead, the muscular man moved instead. He looked down at Naruto with a raised eyebrow for long moments before scoffing and shaking his head. "Let's get the hell out of here." He said, whipping his head to the side and stalking back towards the entrance.

Naruto twisted his head to blink after him before turning back and looking up at Gaara. The redhead had his head casted to the side again, the murderous look in his eyes once again replaced with that calm indifference. Naruto contemplated saying the man's name again, but couldn't when the policeman suddenly pulled himself from Naruto's grip, not harshly, but enough for the blonde to question whether the gesture was wanted or not, and began following the muscular man passed the entrance doors.

"Ah," Naruto started to say, but gave up when he saw how far the redhead was already walking. He had to jog a bit to keep up with him, but he caught up none-the less. It was so dark when they left the clinic. The night wasn't as dark as it could get by his building, given the lights the clinic cast around the streets, and the working street lights, but it was still dark enough for Naruto to shiver from the juxtaposition of relentless brightness to sudden black.

The muscular man ahead of them walked like he had something to prove, with his fists clenched at his sides, and a slight dip that could have been some sort of swag, Naruto didn't know. The man had worn short sleeves even though it was cold. Come to think of it, even the redhead in front of him was wearing short sleeves. Hell, even he was wearing short sleeves. Naruto remembered then that he'd left his box back in the clinic, in Kiba's room. He probably would have asked to go back and get it if it were just him and Gaara, but the man ahead of them walked with such purpose, as if any distraction would make him go ballistic. Naruto kept his mouth shut. He'd be able to get clothes and maybe a sweater from his apartment anyway.

They'd been walking for maybe a few minutes, when Kankuro suddenly stopped in front of a running car. The lights were on in the front, and from this distance, Naruto could see a woman sitting in the front seat. It was either a woman or a life-like doll because her hair…it was pink?

Walking closer, Naruto realized that the woman's hair was indeed pink, and that she was quite real. She stared ahead with a strong frown on her face, and she was, Naruto realized with the tiniest pang of jealousy, absolutely gorgeous.

"Get in the back." The man in front of them barked at the both of them. He had to walk into the street to get into the driver's seat, and he watched Naruto and Gaara with narrowed as the redhead opened the seat to the back of the car.

Naruto blinked when Gaara stepped to the side to let him in instead of going into the car first. He still wasn't used to all this politeness. It didn't really make any sense to him. He got into the car quickly, partially because he was cold, and partially because he knew the redhead would be cold too. Gaara got into the vehicle in a smooth motion, the way he did everything. His tallness made him seem awkward in the back seat, legs as long as they were, squishing against the front seat.

Gaara turned to Naruto then, and pointed to something behind him. Naruto looked back and only saw the window. He turned back. "What?"

Gaara blinked at him slowly before pointing again. "Seatbelt."

Naruto "oh'ed" lightly and reached over to put it on. He did it somewhat frustratingly. He really didn't understand Gaara's concern for seatbelts.

There was a shuffling in the front of the car, and the muscle man suddenly threw something in Gaara's direction. Naruto jumped, but let out a relieved sigh when he saw Gaara catch it.

"You can bring it to the damn auto-shop when they call you to pick your car up."

Squinting at the thing in Gaara's hands, Naruto realized that it was a license plate. Those things looked a lot bigger when they weren't attached to a three ton vehicle, Naruto realized. The license plate white, like every other license plate, but there was something that caught his eyes. The black letters and numbers were assembled in a strange order—that was normal. But next to the license number was, in huge red letters and in parenthesis, _MR M_.

Naruto blinked. He recognized those three letters on that sticker in front of Gaara's car from this morning. Naruto found that a little odd, but then again, so many things were odd with Gaara.

But Naruto couldn't put all his attention to the redhead right now. He was in a position that allowed him to see the woman's profile perfectly. She sat still, with her hands on her large round stomach. Naruto narrowed his eyes at that. Was the woman pregnant?

The muscle man did something to the car that made it roar to life. Then the car was moving. The man drove like Gaara did, albeit his movements were a little less smooth. But the confidence was there, like he knew every inch of every road by heart.

"Kankuro, slow _down_." Naruto heard the woman speak for the first time. Her voice was rough, but soft around the edges. Was that possible? Naruto wrinkled his nose.

"Sorry." He heard the muscle man—Kankuro—mumble before the vehicle gradually slowed down.

The car remained silent for the next few minutes. Naruto found himself wondering if the man knew where he lived. He hadn't kept his eyes on the road when Gaara was driving him home, and even if he had, he probably wouldn't have recognized anything when it was so dark. They were driving a place with little rectangle houses, or condo's—whatever they were. They all looked quaint, with circular windows and mailboxes at the foot of their lawns.

Naruto might not have recognized the street, but one thing he knew about his apartment was that to get there you needed to drive towards the city, not _away_ from it. "Uh, sir—"

"Gaara."

Naruto blinked when he heard the woman's voice again. He turned to look at and saw her face set in the same tight frown from what he could see in her profile. Then he turned to look at Gaara. He had his elbows on the rim of the closed window, and his head leaned into the glass. His face didn't show any acknowledgment to the woman's call.

"_Gaara_." She said again, and the tone she said it in held a sort of angry desperateness.

"Sakura, you don't have to talk to him." The muscle man said to her lightly.

Naruto tried to raise an eyebrow at this, but was too confused to do so. What the hell were they taking about? What kind of history did they have with the redhead—and where the hell were they taking him?

"Uhm, sir?" he tried again.

"What?" the man asked with annoyance thick in his voice.

"Uh…where are…Where are we going?"

The man made a sound that reminded Naruto of the days when he really didn't know how to snort coke up his nose. "Where the hell do you think we're going? To the twit's condo." He jerked his head towards the back, so Naruto knew he was talking about Gaara.

"Oh." Naruto didn't think they would choose to put the redhead home first. After all, he was supposed to be in his sight at all times. Maybe the redhead lived closer or something? Or maybe the muscle man's apartment was in the direction of Naruto's apartment? Naruto supposed that would make sense. It would mean less of a trip.

"So…" Naruto started again. "Do you need…my address? For when you take me home afterwards?"

The driver made a sharp turn, and the woman in the passenger seat swore.

"What the hell are you talkin' about kid?" the man asked. "All I was asked to do was bring Gaara and his pet project to the twit's house."

Naruto blinked. "What do you mean? Gaara and I live in opposite directions." Or at least that was what it seemed like to Naruto. There were so many trees in the area they were driving in.

"Listen kid," the man said exasperated. "There's only two places on my list. Gaara's, and mine. And you sure as hell ain't crashing at my place. You figure out what the hell is going on."

Naruto stared at the headrest ahead of him with wide eyes. What…what was the man talking about? Was he actually planning of leaving him at Gaara's…

No.

Naruto shook his head. That wasn't possible. It didn't make any sense. He was probably hearing things wrong—another after-effect of the drugs. He leaned back into his chair and blinked hard.

Then he realized Kankuro was easing to a stop. Naruto blinked rapidly and looked around him. On his left side he could see a small little house. It was rectangular like the others down the road, but with square windows.

"Alright." The man said loudly. "Get out. The both of you."

"Ah—wai—"

The blonde was cut off when Gaara opened the door noisily and stepped outside.

"H-hold on," Naruto started panicking. "I can't—"

"Get the hell out of my car, kid." The man said again. He banged on the wheel to emphasize. Naruto jumped and began tugging his seatbelt off. He saw the pink haired woman—Sakura?—look at him through the rearview mirror. She looked as if she was raising an eyebrow.

Naruto ripped the seatbelt off him and slid out of the car angrily. _Damn it_. What the hell was going on? He found Gaara waiting outside the car, holding the door with his right hand. He closed it behind Naruto when the blonde stepped out. Without even pausing for a good bye, the car roared to life, made a U-turn and drove away noisily.

Naruto stared at the back of the car in disbelief. Wh...what?

"I…What's going…?"

The redhead started walking behind Naruto, towards a house similar to the one Naruto saw. Quaint with large windows.

"Gaara!" Naruto called out, rooted on the spot, trying hard not to explode from the sheer amount of betrayal bubbling up in his chest. "Why is this happening?" he asked desperately, and damn it, he could feel that choking feeling in the back of his throat, preamble for tears.

Gaara turned and looked at him levelly. He looked strange in the night, with a white hand-me-down shirt that advertised the clinic. His bright red hair juxtaposed with the night sharply enough to distract the blonde from his pain, but not enough to take it away.

"Why am I _here_, Gaara?" Naruto asked helplessly.

Gaara blinked at him owlishly before his hand twitched lightly. "Kurenai-sensei." He said softly, sounding quiet even at night where everything around them was so still.

Naruto felt a tug of anger rip him from the inside.

_This is for your own good. Remember that._

That _bitch_. What part of Naruto recovering his _own_ way didn't she understand? Naruto closed his eyes and grinded his teeth together. He didn't know how he looked in front of the redhead, but at the moment he didn't care. These people imposing on his life were probably better than the drugs, he knew that, but _damn_ it if they kept _forcing_ him like this, if they kept making decisions for him like this—it was like when he was younger and his grandmother, and her rules, and her anger, and her _rules_—it was why he ran _away_, damn it. And now these people were—

"You are upset."

The voice didn't startle Naruto. Not this time. Instead he shook his head angrily and glared at the redhead. He wasn't angry at Gaara, god forbid he ever was; it wasn't the redhead's fault. Probably. He was just following orders, right?

It seemed the redhead was good at that, Naruto realized, wheels turning violently in his head. If Gaara was so damn good at following orders, then he wouldn't mind if Naruto had a request for him, right? And Naruto knew he must have been going against some sort of promise, and he knew that this was probably wrong of him, and why the hell was Kakashi's warning not to _abuse_ Gaara ringing in his head—

"Gaara." He said roughly, ignoring all his stupid thoughts and the stupid voices, and the stupid tears running down his face. "Take me home."

He knew it was selfish. But what he also knew was that Gaara would do it. He would take him home even if they had to _walk_ there.

The redhead looked up at Naruto then. He was half turned towards the small house in front of them, half turned towards Naruto. He said nothing for long moments, as if waiting for Naruto to change his mind. Then, finally, he moved. He put a pair of keys—when had he taken them out in the first place?—in his pocket and turned to fully face the blonde. "Okay."

The feeling of triumph was just enough to douse Naruto's guilt.

* * *

End of Chapter

Author's Notes

**13,000 words!**

This update took forever, now didn't it? It's because I've been going back and forth with trying to update really really old stories, and **LFFB**, =/. SO much work, and on top of that I have school. Baahhhh humbug. .

First of all, let me tell you guys a little about **withdrawal**:

It can be a different experience for everyone. Some people shiver and shake, some people spasm and get angry and pissed off at everything, and some people don't have to go through any of that. I'm going to make it so that Naruto had periodic bursts of convulsion, shivering, and the idea that it's really cold, and the attacks will probably get stronger and stronger until some sort of turning point. Also, I'm going to make Naruto a little angrier and selfish. He doesn't know that this is because he's been away from the drugs so long so…Yeah, =]

Anyway! About this chapter. This is _part one_ to finding out Gaara's "problems" tee hee~ Do you guys have any idea what those problems might be?

Let's make a list of Gaara's oddities, shall we? and then you guys can tell me what you think his problem is:

**Gaara's Ten Oddities**:

_1. He speaks very little_

_2. He doesn't express a lot of emotion with his face_

_3. He follows orders very well, without any complaints, no matter how outrageous_

_4. He seems oddly concerned about the well-being of others_

_5. His sense of logic isn't quite normal_

_6. Kakashi and Kurenai act very cautious around him_

_7. Kankuro appears to hate him_

_8. Sakura seems to have some strange history with him_

_9. He likes babies_

_10. He has MRM on his license plate._

So. Can you put a name to what's wrong with our favorite redhead? You can tell me in your reviews. And please, feel free to chastise me for taking so long. It was your reviews that made me get off my lazy ass and finally finish this chapter, xD.

Off to finish **LFFB**, =]

Ciao


	11. Who is MR M? Part Two

**Oblivion**

_Chapter Eleven_: Who's MR M? Pt. Two

* * *

This place…

When Naruto decided to ask/order Gaara to take him home, he didn't take into account how terribly dark it would be outside. They were walking now, fast enough that Naruto didn't think they were wasting time but slow enough that the blonde didn't have to jog to keep up with the redhead's long strides.

Neither of them spoke, but that was nothing new. For the first several minutes, Naruto simmered in his anger, tossing and turning the idea of betrayal in his head, clenching and unclenching his fists at his sides and grumbling to himself. He really didn't pay attention to where they were headed, but he had a distant feeling that he could trust Gaara to lead them in the right direction.

The several minutes that it took for Naruto's anger to calm down could only last so long. After a while, he began to breathe easy, relax his fists, and gradually unstiffen his walk. Naruto took one large breath of the fresh air and blinked.

What were they doing?

He looked up at Gaara and saw that impassive face, walking as if he had all the time in the world, as if they weren't they only one's in the street, as if Naruto didn't just order him to take him home just when they arrived at Gaara's place.

Naruto exhaled steadily. It was dark and cold and Naruto actually planned on _walking_ back to his house? And drag the redhead back with him? Not only that, if Naruto did get home, Gaara would have to walk back, in the cold. The blonde rubbed his goose bumped arms for a moment before shivering.

Again. What were they doing?

_Damn it._

Naruto shivered again, and let out a blowing breath so he could see the vapor that escaped his mouth.

The both of them were wearing short sleeves.

What the hell did Naruto get himself into? He shook his head for a moment to warm the cold front he could feeing traveling across his scalp. He took another look at the redhead. Gaara still had his arms to the side, not even closed in fists the way Naruto would have them if he was so cold. Naruto frowned at that. He opened his mouth to ask a question, but closed it again. Then he thought about it. There was really no more reason for him to be afraid of talking to Gaara. The guy was harmless, as far as Naruto saw, and actually quite nice. It wouldn't heart to start a conversation.

"A-aren't you cold?"

A sudden wind blew when Naruto spoke the words, so he wondered if Gaara heard him.

"Ah, Gaara?"

"No."

Naruto blinked. "No?"

"No."

"O...Oh." Naruto looked away then. But he wasn't giving up. Maybe talking to Gaara would give him a chance not to think about the cold. He knew they were already far from Gaara's quaint little house so he wasn't going to ask to go back. Besides, he was still pretty pissed that Kurenai betrayed him the way she did. So he would endure the trip until they got to his apartment, whether or not the redhead received the blunt of the cold with him or not.

Hmm.

Did that sound a bit...insensitive?

Naruto shook his head. It didn't matter. He would think about sensitivity when he was in the comfort of his own home, sleeping under scratchy sheets, and trying hard to ignore the lingering smells of blood and near-death. The ride to Gaara's house hadn't even been that long. It was a half an hour at most. Naruto thought that would mean at least an hour walk for the Gaara and himself.

Ah, but wait. That had only been the drive from the hospital. Naruto's house was much further than that, and he couldn't remember how long it had taken Gaara to get to the hospital from his house. Now that he thought about it, he hardly remembered anything before...

Naruto blinked.

He didn't remember anything before finding out Kiba was still alive. Naruto furrowed his eyebrows and thought hard for a few moments. Nope. He couldn't remember anything before Kiba.

Naruto shook his head. That was strange. He wondered where his memory went this time. He shrugged his shoulders then, because he found that he couldn't get himself to care. What mattered to him was his future, not his past. The past had nothing special for him anyway. Naruto settled into that resolve comfortably and shivered.

It was so cold.

That meant it would be a long hour.

"G-Gaara." he didn't mean to stutter, and he cursed himself for it. He wanted to know how long it would take for them to get to his apartment. "What will it take to get there?" he looked up at the redhead to find that he was staring ahead with the same blank expression on his face.

He blinked once, before he shook his head. "Time." he replied lowly. "It will take time."

Naruto was never so close to rolling his eyes, but instead he sighed and looked ahead again. They still hadn't passed the neighborhood with all the little houses and trees. Naruto frowned at them. He would have like to live in a place like this, rather than the trash heap he lived in, he supposed. But that trash heap was what he was comfortable with. It was what he'd been living with for years. He knew how to handle it, and he would handle it well, especially since he wasn't doing the drugs anymore.

But.

_"The place you live in…do you really think that it's the best place you should bring a helpless animal to?"_Naruto glared at the road ahead of him. He would prefer the voice of that demon in his head over Kurenai's at the moment. He really felt a great anger towards that woman that he couldn't understand. He supposed it was because of the control the woman was trying to place on him.

A cold breeze passed through them then, and Naruto had to pause so he could shiver. The shiver went through him like spikes prickling under his skin, poking and poking until it reached every part of his body. Naruto shivered again, just from the force of the first one. When he looked up again, a few moments later, he found Gaara looking back at him, with his body slightly turned and that plain look on his face—unworried, unconcerned, but oddly patient. As if he would wait a lifetime for the blonde to do whatever he had to do. Naruto shook his head at that thought, and began to walk again.

The odd metaphors that passed through his head whenever he thought of Gaara were strange. It made his head hurt almost as much as it awakened a feeling deep in his stomach-not his heart this time. That was the strange thing about Gaara, Naruto thought. Whenever he thought of Gaara, whenever Gaara did something strange, Naruto would always feel something at the pit of his stomach, welling up oddly until distant strands of what Naruto thought was stomach acid touched his heart. Naruto shook his head again. He didn't know how he felt about the redhead. It wasn't...like what he'd felt for Sasuke—not at all, because with Sasuke, Naruto felt like his heart was frigid and too big for his chest, pumping and pumping until it broke into cold little glass pieces. But with Gaara... Naruto felt warmth invade his stomach like the down side of an iron, spreading until it coated his insides with heat.

Naruto frowned. Hot and cold. Gaara and Sasuke were complete opposites in his mind. He wondered why, especially when he'd only known Gaara for...what? A week? Maybe less? And he spent more time thinking about him then actually getting to know him.

Another breeze passed through them, and Naruto actually had to grit his teeth to prevent from crying out. When he looked up, Gaara still looked fine, with the wind blowing through his hair, and under his shirt, and over his arms. There were slight goosebumps there, as well as a few standing red hairs, but other than that, Gaara's arms were clear, with hardly any sign of the (freezing) wind blowing through them. Naruto looked down at his own arms. He didn't have a lot of hair, but the ones he did have were standing at attention, trying desperately to spread across his arms so he could at least feel a small bit of warmth. And goosebumps. Naruto didn't think he had somewhere that _wasn't_ covered in goosebumps. Naruto shivered again, and rubbed his arms. He wondered how the hell Gaara was taking the weather.

They'd been walking for what felt like an hour, which meant that it probably only was several minutes. Naruto was shivering actively now, and lagging a bit behind Gaara. The redhead had to stop walking a few times, to allow Naruto to catch up. The blonde began to regret ordering Gaara to bring him back home. He could have just as easily pissed Kurenai off by deciding to go back home the _next_ day, preferably with a coat, a scarf, and gloves for his freezing hands. But of course he had to be an idiot, and let some anger—that came out of _nowhere_-make decisions for him. Naruto shook his head. Even when Naruto was making a stand on something he cared about, he still managed to screw things up...

Naruto sighed. He needed to stop doing this himself. Berating himself. Hating himself. Putting himself down. Or else he would never be different. He had to be different. For Kiba. For Tsunade.

Another wind blew, blowing his hair back and exposing his forehead to the elements. He turned to face the redhead again, and watched as his hair blew back as well. He didn't shiver like Naruto did. He didn't even flinch against the wind. He walked as if it wasn't probably two in the morning, as if it wasn't pitch black, as if Naruto hadn't forced him to walk back to the place they'd left only small while ago.

Naruto allowed his eyes to trail down the redhead's body. He walked with a lazily calmness that was embroided with confidence. Did that make sense? It didn't matter. It was Gaara. He didn't think it had to make sense when it came to him. Naruto's eyes hesitated when it landed on the license plate Gaara carried with his left hand. The plate was turned, so he could not see the letters. But he could remember well enough. _MR M_. He'd seen it twice...and Kurenai had mentioned something about it in the hospital. Something about how the strange nurse—Sadako—was the same way. Except with different initials. Naruto couldn't remember what it was.

But _MR M_. What did that mean? Naruto thought about it. Did it have something to do with the police force? Was that his code or something? Then again, it couldn't be, because Kurenai said Sadako was the same way. Unless everyone was an undercover cop and Naruto wasn't in on it, he didn't think that was right. But still. He wanted to know.

Ah, but wait. There was a space between the _R_ and the second _M_. _MR M_. Maybe it wasn't anything like what Naruto was thinking about. Maybe it was just a name. _Mr_. M. Maybe Gaara's last name started with an M? Naruto shook his head. No, that wasn't it. Gaara's last name—he couldn't remember what it was, but he knew it didn't start with an M. Maybe it was the name of another person? But if that was the case, what was it doing as a sticker on Gaara's car? What was it doing on Gaara's license plate?

Then, Naruto thought of the most important question of all. Why was he thinking like this, to himself, when he could ask Gaara right here? Naruto frowned at the road ahead of him. It was slow moments like this that made him want to take a fork and just plunge it through his eye sockets. Before he could open his mouth, another gust of wind blew, and he shivered. When he shook off cold, he turned to look at the redhead.

"Gaara." he started slowly. He waited for the redhead's eyes—he never turned his entire head—to drift and meet his own. Naruto blinked once, before asking. "Who's Mr. M?"

They continued to walk, but Gaara had slowed down, and looked at Naruto with one widening eye. Naruto figured he was raising an eyebrow. "Mr. M." he said lowly, with that deep voice managing to sound over the gusts of wind despite his low voice.

Naruto nodded his head. "Mr. M. I-it was on your car. It's on your license plate." He gestured lamely at the license plate in Gaara's hand. "A-and Kurenai mentioned it a few times.—" Naruto stopped talking then, because he remembered something. When Kurenai had been talking about the initials, she didn't say _Mr_. M, did she? She said—

"MR M."

Naruto looked back at Gaara. The redhead hadn't stopped walking, but he was walking a little slower now, and he wasn't looking at the blonde anymore. Instead he was looking ahead, and was narrowing his eyes.

"...Yes?" Naruto started encouragingly. "What...is it?" he shivered after he said that, and he didn't know why, when there was no wind.

"MR M..." the redhead said again—softly." It means…different."

Naruto blinked. What? He was expecting some sort of acronym definition, but he supposed he shouldn't be surprised, considering who he was talking to. He didn't push the matter—not when a biting cold was aching at his ears and face, and sinking into his arms. He really wished that the metaphor of warmth he categorized Gaara with was real, so that metaphorical warmth would spread through him and take away this damn cold.

They'd been walking for some time now. Enough for Naruto to think that they were actually getting close to their destination. They were no longer surrounded by quaint little houses. Instead they were walking by small buildings, probably three stories high. That meant that they were moving towards the city. Naruto hoped that the buildings would block the wind that kept blowing into his face.

He felt a small twinge in his stomach then, and Naruto paused. The twinge didn't come back again for a while, so he continued to follow Gaara again. He wasn't hungry, even though he hadn't eaten in two days. He thought it would be okay. His body wasn't used to eating food anyway. When he'd first started doing drugs, he couldn't stop eating—eating was all he ever did before he could find himself another fix. But then, he didn't have any money to get food, and all he had to look forward to were the drugs. His body eventually got used to that, and used his fixes as food. Naruto imagined his stomach was shrunken to a pea now. But he supposed he deserved it. He'd been a terrible human being. Weak, even. Allowing himself to succumb to the drugs the way he did. He was a disgrace, wasn't he?

Naruto waited for the voice in his head to respond to that...

It never came.

Naruto closed his eyes. He didn't know what to think of that. The voice was a pain. It made him do stupid things, made him hate himself—want to kill himself. But at the same time, when the voice was in his head, his body acted at least a tad more normal than it usually did. Everything was stabilized because he was too busy with his self-hate. Without the voice, his body was left to the mercy of his...well—_body_. The withdrawal attacks came when his mind was empty. It brought the cold, and the fear, and the pain, and the _cold_. In fact, what if Naruto was going through it right now? He was freezing, and yet Gaara was having an easy time. How was he to know that this cold was real, and not another effect of the drugs he stopped taking? Naruto felt a bit of panic boil in him.

No; withdrawal was more than that. Withdrawal was the shaking, and the shivering, and the not knowing where he was, and the not remembering what happened just seconds before, and the not caring about the world around him, and the seeking of that warmth—oh, that _warmth_.

Exactly. Naruto felt some of those things...was experiencing some of those—but not on a grand scale. Not the way withdrawal did. Withdrawal made everything bigger. More dangerous. It made him feel like he was on the drugs again. Only it was the aftermath—the crash after the high. Falling so fast, like a roller coaster—g-going backwards with Naruto strapped in tight with no chance of escaping until he reached that warmth—

"_Gaara_?" Naruto half shouted. He reached out blindly, but stopped short and pulled his arms back around himself. He didn't wait for the redhead to answer him. "A-are you cold?" his voice had a desperateness to it, and he was embarrassed for it, which was a _good_ sign—because it meant he was still himself. Still in control. Not strapped into that falling roller-coaster.

"No."

_Shit_.

Did that mean that—

Another shiver went through Naruto.

_Shit_.

Naruto began to moan. He stopped walking and doubled over. Then something inside, racked though him—like a blade moving through his intestines with the intent to rip through his stomach.

Naruto screamed. Or rather let out a strangled cry. His arms went to clutch his stomach, and he could feel the stretch of his grimacing face, pulling and pulling at his skin as he gritted his teeth.

_What...?_

What was happening to him? Th-this wasn't like any of the other times—he was too _aware_, too _cognizant_—he could—he could—

Another surge of pain ripped through Naruto and he let a real scream out this time, so loud and raw that he could imagine his uvula tearing from the top of his mouth with the force of it.

He could feel _everything_.

"A-aah-aahh-" Naruto tried to stand up straight, but that blade in his stomach twisted and coiled inside him, and he barely managed not to fall to the ground. "W-what's-!"

"Naruto."

The blonde shook his head feverishly and screamed again. He felt something in his stomach flop, and his legs gave away. He waited for the impact of the ground against his face, but it never came. He felt something—hands?—

hooking under his arms and pulling up off the ground.

Naruto was ready to scream again, escape himself and forget everything so he could get the raw feeling of pain out of his body, to forget everything, to not feel anything—

But decided against it.

He had to be in control. If he lost it when he was in so much pain, he would commit suicide.

"Gaar-"

Another jab of pain in his stomach and Naruto screamed silently, his mouth opening wide and his eyes squinting shut. He was too far gone to think about how awkward he looked in the middle of the street, with half of his body aiming for the ground while his top half was being held by two firm hands under his arms.

"Naruto."

That voice again. Who was it—?

_No_.

Naruto shook his head. He wouldn't allow himself to escape himself. He knew who that was. It was Gaara's voice. It was Gaara holding him. It was Gaara's breath on his cheek, pulling him up like he weighed the same as the dog he carried to the hospital the previous day. There was another jab of pain at his stomach, and Naruto jerked in Gaara's arms. He let out another silent scream, and tried to pull away from the redhead so he could hold his stomach—

But Gaara held him tight. "Naruto."

"Gaa—"

Then there was _water_. And a _noise_—a clapping noise, loud and coming from above—like a roar of a _monster_—

And the _water_. It was on his face, spilling over his eyes, and going into his mouth. He was sobbing now—but that wasn't water from his tears. It was water from the ocean—it had to be—coming in torrents onto Naruto's face like a tidal wave, coming to claim Naruto's life once and for all.

Naruto gasped, and shut his eyes, and began to claw at the air around him. "G-Gaara—" he let out a strangled cry and sobbed again. "I-I'm drowning!" he shouted. His feet tried to find the ground, but when he reached it, he slipped—

He didn't fall though—Gaara was still holding on.

Naruto wondered how he could still hold on when there was a tidal wave washing them away, carrying them across the streets with the intent to drown them—kill them—suck the life out of their—

"G-Gaara, we're drowning! We're drowning—d-drowning-drown—" He gasped for air and sobbed, trying desperately to keep the water away from his—

"_Naruto_."

There was a movement—swift, and gentle—the hands under his arms shifted so that one arm splayed across Naruto's back, and pulled him forwards so that he was chest to chest with him.

"Gaa—"

But Naruto lost his words, for as soon as his wet, cold chest came in to contact with Gaara's, he felt a heat so intense his words got stuck in his throat.

And the tidal wave that was coming for them, ready to sweep them away… was gone.

But how could Naruto think about that, when there was a heat—the one in his metaphor—spreading through him like _wildfire_. The pain in his stomach, long forgotten now, had subsided and he lifted his weak legs, and lifted his sore arms and enclosed them around the redhead in front of him, and buried his head into that warm, wet chest. He squeezed and squeezed until he was completely engulfed in that warmth—until the warmth suffocated him. He realized then that he would rather die by fire then the expanse of cold water by far.

He didn't know how long he stood like that, with his head buried against Gaara's chest, and those large hands pulling him in from behind to make them that much closer. All Naruto knew was that as time passed, noises around him began to get louder and louder. There was a pitter patter, pitter patter all around him. Like the footsteps of a small child or a tiny animal running across pavement with astonishing speed.

Naruto wanted to know what that noise was.

So he looked up.

He sucked a breath.

If he'd ever been this close to Gaara before, he couldn't remember. But it was hardly how close they were to each other. It was hardly how their bodies were pressed together. It was Gaara's eyes—staring down at him through squinted slits partially shielded by red strands of hair. Naruto tried to speak, but his eyes were too busy being lost in the redhead's. His blue orbs searched them, rapidly moving side to side. At one moment, his eyes fell on the license plate above Gaara, being held by his other hand and shielding them from...

Naruto blinked.

The rain.

Like a rush of cold water, Naruto felt the warmth escape, and pulled away from Gaara, breathing hard, and blushing feverishly. "I-I-"he started to say, but couldn't because too many things were going through his head—too many emotions. H-h-he was confused, and _embarrassed_, and devastated. How far gone was he that he would mistake rain for...what was it again?-a _tidal_ wave? And that pain in his stomach. Kurenai had said something about side-effects of withdrawal but he couldn't—that didn't—he didn't think it would be that _bad_. Naruto felt his stomach again. The pain was gone, but the after effects were there. He felt like he wanted to vomit, and his stomach was throbbing lightly. Naruto ran both hands through his hair and shook his head. It was pouring outside, and he constantly had to wipe his eyes of water. When he looked up again, Gaara was standing there, looking at him with his usual look. He took the license plate from above his head, and just...stared.

"I..." Naruto started lamely. Then he closed his eyes. "I'm sorry." He shook his head. "For everything. I...I shouldn't have brought you here...I should've just stayed...at your house...and not argue...I should have...We shouldn't...I'm...I'm sorry."

He didn't know why he was apologizing. He was feeling a rush of emotions tumbling through him, and he didn't know if he could catch them all before they emptied him—

"I'm so _sorry_." he said again. He thought he sobbed, but he wasn't sure. There was too much rain and he had to scream for Gaara to hear him. "W-we should..."he started to say. "W-w-we should go back." A shiver escaped him, but he knew it was really from the cold this time. Water was trailing under his shirt. "W-w-we should go back and…" Naruto stopped there, because he didn't know what to say. What would they do once they got there? The blonde shook his head. "Gaara, I'm so _sorry_."

Naruto kept his head down. He couldn't face the redhead. Not when he was feeling this way. Thank god for the rain, pouring as hard as it was, so it could shield the torrent of tears falling from his eyes. He didn't even know why he was crying. It was just…overwhelming. Everything was getting out of hand—or at least, more so than it already was. He'd made a mistake, and he'd drag Gaara, who practically had nothing to do with this, in it with him. What would Kakashi say? He'd told Naruto not to give the redhead outrageous requests, and what did he do? He went ahead and asked Gaara to walk him what could as well be fifty miles to his apartment, at three o'clock in the morning in the pouring rain. Naruto didn't think it could get more outrageous than that.

When Gaara didn't say anything, Naruto sighed. He'd given up on thinking the redhead would ever really be angry at him, but he was still scared to look at his face. "I'm…I'm really sorry, Gaara—"

"We can't go back."

Because it was so sudden, Naruto picked his head up. Gaara was there, naturally, standing there, with his body getting wetter by the second, with his hair flattening around his scalp and over his ears. Naruto watched as Gaara's hair grew a deeper brown against the water, with a halo of red still clinging to the edges.

"Why can't we go back?" he asked apprehensively. He didn't know why he was scared of the answer.

Gaara looked at him for a moment longer, before he gestured lamely with his license plate towards the road. The hospital." He turned to look at Naruto again. "We'll stay there. Away from the rain. Then you'll go home."

Naruto blinked at the redhead. Then he blinked to the direction he pointed at, and indeed there was the familiar white building, shielded from trees and other things.

He was relieved for a moment. Then he remembered what he had done, who would be in there, and what she would say.

Damn it. He didn't want to go in there. But did he really have a choice? The rain was sinking into his clothes, and causing the fabric to stick to his already freezing skin. The water wasn't as cold, wasn't as overwhelming as Naruto thought it was. He realized that the cold he'd been feeling before was his body reacting again, to his some-what drug free body. It had been cold, but not cold enough for him to feel like his skin was going to break into a map of frost bites.

But he still didn't want to go back in the hospital. He contemplated asking Gaara to just take him back again, but cursed at himself. What was wrong with? Taking advantage of Gaara the way he kept on doing. Just because Gaara seemed to do whatever he said didn't mean that he should take advantage of that.

Then again. It would be so easy. They could hide under a tree for the time being (Naruto knew from experience that rain like this didn't last long) and he would ask to go back home. No one would have to know what he did today. He would ask Gaara not to say anything, and everything would be alright.

Naruto looked up at the redhead then. He stood there, staring at Naruto. He didn't look cold. He wasn't even shivering against the rain, but his now black hair flew against the water and constantly stuck to his face.

Naruto sighed. "Let's go to the hospital." he said. He said it softly enough so he had a chance to change his mind if Gaara didn't hear, but the redhead straightened himself, turned, and began walking to the direction of the building. Naruto didn't waste time catching up to walk beside him. He didn't want to get left behind in the storm.

They'd walked for less than a minute, when a gust of wind, so strong that it carried a torrent of water, blew towards Naruto, and pushed him roughly backwards. Naruto opened his mouth to shout, as he was about to fall to the ground, but a strong hand, reached out and quickly grabbed him before he could. It was too much of a storm for Naruto to be able to see ahead anymore, but Gaara pulled him along.

"I-I can't—" he stopped speaking then, because he doubted the redhead would hear him. Besides, he trusted Gaara. He would lead the way, and there was nothing he had to worry about—

And then there was light. Naruto couldn't see it clearly, but he knew they were right in front of the building, He gasped when Gaara started running, fast enough for the water to splash messily as their feet, but slow enough for Naruto not to collapse behind him. In no time at all, Naruto could see the entrance doors to the building, and in the next moment, the two were rushing inside the dry and warm building, with the door banging closed behind them.

Naruto found his hand falling from Gaara's grasp as he doubled over to cough. The fit only lasted for a moment, and when he picked his head up he found Gaara running a hand through his face and hair, then squeezing the ends of his shirt. Naruto started to do the same thing, when he looked up and saw the eyes of their audience.

Naruto blinked. He felt an odd wave of Deja Vu wash over him. It was like earlier today—or rather yesterday—when he'd come in with the other policeman and Kiba. There were a lot less people out though—mostly nurses in white uniform. The thought of nurses made Naruto turn his head to the head desk. The strange women, Sadako, wasn't there this time. In her place was another person, arguably a lot more normal looking then Sadako looked. She stared at the two with wide eyes and an open mouth. "Ah..."she started, but was cut off when another nurse, who was walking towards them now, interrupted her.

"You guys are back?" she asked. Naruto remembered seeing her when he'd been making rounds around the hospital, searching for Gaara.

"Y-yeah..." he replied.

The woman raised an eyebrow. "Oh. Well, Sarutobi-sensei is in her office. Were you here to see her?"

Naruto wanted to say no, and just say that they' would be leaving soon, but he didn't get the chance when the woman he'd been trying to avoid came into view from down a hallway. It was obvious she didn't see them yet, as she walked with her head down, writing on a clipboard, but when she looked up and met his eyes, she paused, widened her eyes, and began to walk faster.

"Naruto..."she started disbelievingly. Then she saw Gaara. "Gaara."

"Sarutobi-sensei—"

"It's alright nurse, you can go back to your post." Kurenai said, interrupting her. She stood up straight then and ran a hand through her hair. "What are you two _doing_ here? You're soaking _wet_-" she started exasperatingly. "Gaara, don't tell me your brother left you in the middle of nowhere again—" she paused again, to look down and shake her head. "I knew it was a bad idea to let him drive you. It was just such a last minute thing and I had no one _else_ and—" she sighed again, and lifted her head up to the ceiling and closed her eyes, as if swearing to some god. "I'm...I'm so sorry you two." she said, looking down again. "I...Let's get you dried up."

Naruto blinked at her. Then he looked to Gaara. The redhead was looking at her with eyes that didn't seem to be ready to say anything. Naruto sighed. That meant he had to say it.

"Ah. Kurenai." he started lamely.

Kurenai up looked at him expectantly. "Yes, Naruto?"

"I..." Naruto paused. Then he shook his head. He might as well get it over with. The sooner the better. "That man...he didn't...he didn't leave us in the middle of..." Naruto closed his eyes. "He took us to Gaara's house...but I didn't...Ididn't _want_ that and I...I-I asked Gaara to bring me back here—ah—no—" Naruto laughed nervously. "I wanted him to take me home. B-but I had an a-attack and then there was the rain and now...now we're here."

He didn't look up for long moments after he finished his explanation, but when Kurenai didn't say anything he had to. What he saw in Kurenai's face made him flinch backwards. She looked torn between disbelief and anger. She had her mouth open slightly, and her eyes narrowed, with her brows furrowing, and—

"You did _what_?"

Naruto knew enough to know that the question was rhetorical.

The red eyed woman took a step back, then she took a huge step forwards, so she was practically in the blonde's face. Naruto looked at her with wide eyes. "W-wha-"

"Naruto." she started gravely. "Tell me. Was it a spur of moment...or did you ask Gaara to bring you here because you knew he _would_, because you knew he wouldn't _complain_—" she looked like she wanted to say more, but she stopped herself and waited for Naruto to speak.

The blonde blinked at her apprehensively. What kind of question was that? He knew the answer, but at the same time, he knew his answer would be the wrong one—the one that she didn't want to hear. "B-because I knew he woul—"

Sm—_ACK!_

Naruto didn't even have time to finish his answer, when the palm of Kurenai's hand came crashing against his cheek. He let out a cry and stumbled to the side. When he looked up with wide assaulted eyes, cradling his cheek, he saw Kurenai glaring at him hard, and other nurses gathering up behind her with their hands over their mouths and shocked looks on their faces.

Naruto blinked a tear out of his eye. His cheek was still throbbing. He didn't remember the last time he'd been smacked like that. "Wh-a—" His voice sounded watery, and he hated that, but before he could try again, Kurenai huffed an angry breath and stepped back.

"Follow me." she said lowly before she turned and started walking away.

Naruto opened his mouth to protest, but couldn't when Gaara, long forgotten until now, walked ahead to follow the red eyed woman. Naruto watched them walk ahead of him for a while, with his hand still cradling his cheek, and his eyes still wide. He felt violated. But at the same time...it felt like he oddly...deserved it.

Naruto found himself following the two in front of him. He ignored the looks of the other nurses by putting his head down. He let his hand fall from his cheek, and wiped away the idle tear that fell from his eye. He didn't rush to catch up to them, like he would have if he was following Gaara, but instead trailed a several feet behind. His mind was sort of in a daze, and the lights in the clinic juxtaposed so sharply with the outside darkness that his eyes were still adjusting.

They'd been walking for nearly two minutes when Naruto saw them come to a stop ahead. Kurenai halted in front of a door, took out a key, and opened it angrily. She gestured for Gaara to step inside quickly and waited for Naruto to reach them. Naruto decided to walk faster then, lest he angered the woman. When he reached her, Kurenai grabbed his arm and shoved him inside the room. Then she stepped in with him and closed the door behind her.

Naruto stumbled a bit, before he found his footing. He looked at his surroundings warily. This room was large, and full of metal cabinets. There was a roaring sound emitting from the back, and Naruto turned to see what it was. He only saw a large metal tube connected to the ceiling, glowing a bright red color. Naruto suddenly noticed how hot this room was. Where the hell were they?

Kurenai eyed the two for a small moment before she walked to one of the large cabinets. "Take off your clothes." she said to them as she opened the cabinet.

"Wha—"

"You can't stay in those clothes." she said, exasperated. She turned to glare at Naruto then, before looking back in the cabinet and crabbing a few white cloths. When Naruto saw them clearly, he saw they were two towels, and what might have been a thin pair of shirts, he wasn't sure. Then Kurenai closed the cabinet and turned to face them.

Naruto flinched away from the look in her eyes.

"What are you waiting for?" she started. "Take off your clothes and change into those." she turned to Gaara then, and Naruto saw her eyes soften. She walked up to the redhead and took one of the towels and one of the shirts. She held them up to the redhead and smiled. "You too Gaara." she said. Then she laughed lightly. "This is the second time you're taking our clothes. Anymore and we'll run out." She smiled a bit more and stepped back and the redhead moved his hands under his shirt to pull it over his head.

Meanwhile, Naruto sucked in a breath.

Gaara's chest...

He didn't know why, but he'd placed the redhead on a pedestal so high that he figured every part of his body would be clear—unmarred—perfect.

How wrong he was.

Gaara's chest was an arrangement of faded bruises and scratches, and a span of red marks with odd shapes that looked like they still hurt. But it wasn't just the petty bruises that made Naruto widen his eyes, it was one mark—harsh, reddish purple, and large. It stood right above his heart, cutting into his breast and just barely avoiding his left nipple. It resembled a tattoo—but Naruto knew better than that. The redness that the mark wasn't made up of ink—it was made up of blood—Gaara's, Naruto realized. It was as if someone took a needle and scratched it against the redhead's chest until it left a mark so permanent that not even the usual veiny scratches was left—instead what was left was a scar, bulbous, red, and _blistering_, and yet still clean and in the shape of a strange Kanji that Naruto had to squint to understand.

Love.

"Wha...—"

Then Gaara was wiping a towel over his chest, and Naruto couldn't see anymore.

Kurenai turned to him then, with a knowing look in her eye. She walked over to Naruto and handed him the other towel. "Your turn."

Now it was Naruto's turn to feel self-conscious about his body. He hadn't seen his body in a full length mirror in a while, but he'd seen glimpses of the mess underneath his clothes. All those angles—jutting out through his skin and assaulting the eyes of everyone who saw them. He wanted to feel bad, since Gaara had a chest that looked like he washed with sandpaper one day, but at the same time he couldn't. Despite the way it looked, Gaara still looked healthy. He was build—muscular where he needed to be—lean where he needed to be. Naruto was skinny to the point where he couldn't lift enough skin to pinch himself. Gaara was scarred—but healthy. Naruto knew he had scars somewhere, but even if he didn't, he was still just about the unhealthiest person he'd ever had a chance to know.

And now Kurenai, a doctor, was there to see the mess underneath his clothes and judge him for it.

"I..."

Kurenai glared at him, and Naruto shut his mouth. He sighed then, because there was really nothing he could do. He reached for the hem of his shirt to pull it up, then he remembered he was wearing a button-down.

He unhooked the buttons one by one, quickly, so Kurenai wouldn't reach over and try to do it herself. His plan was to get this done fast, so the people in the room wouldn't have a chance to think about how much of a mess he was underneath his clothes. His didn't know if his plan worked, because he didn't dare look up when he completely removed his shirt, and grabbed the towel to rid himself of the dampness quickly, before reaching for the shirt Kurenai had in her hands and pulling it over his head.

Done.

Naruto looked up. Kurenai, to his utter demise, was looking at his chest with wide eyes. Naruto closed his eyes. He rathered the look of anger that she gave him than this.

"Uhm..." he started lamely, trying to get her attention away from what he knew would be prodding questions about his eating habits.

It worked. Kurenai blinked a few times, before she looked up at Naruto's eyes. Then she shook her head and frowned. "We...we need to talk."

Naruto's heart skipped a bit. Damn it. Were they going to talk about his health after all? He started to protest, but Kurenai interrupted him.

"We have...to talk about Gaara." she finished. She looked at Naruto sadly then. "Kakashi..." she shook her head and looked away from him. "Gaara," she started. "Can you...leave the room, please?"

Naruto widened his eyes. "Why—" he started to say, but Kurenai wasn't looking at him. Instead she was looking at Gaara with a sad smile on her face.

Naruto didn't turn to look. He could hear Gaara's footsteps heading towards the door.

"I'm sure Sadako is still awake." the woman called to him. "She's love to see you before she goes to bed..."

Naruto knew Gaara wouldn't reply, but he listened hard anyway. All he heard was the door closing behind the redhead.

Then there was silence.

Naruto looked at Kurenai with apprehensive eyes. He wondered what she possibly had to say about the redhead. Maybe that he had been watching him all this time, and with sufficient evidence they've decided to send him to jail after all.

Kurenai looked at him for a few moments, with sad eyes, before shaking her head. She walked backwards until her back was against the cabinets. Then she crossed her arms over her chest. "Naruto..." she started, "Don't...say anything...until I finish-alright?"

Naruto only blinked at her.

Kurenai nodded. "Good." she brushed a lock of hair behind her ear and put her head down. Then she began to speak. "Kakashi..." she started, "...he thought that not telling you—he always thinks that not telling people...will help Gaara...But this is the third time he's been wrong." She made an angry sigh. "He thinks pity is worse than obliviousness—and that's...so..._wrong_." She pushed herself off the cabinet and began to pace. "It doesn't—it never—it just doesn't _work_ like that." she said shaking her head. "Naruto," she said turning to face him. "Gaara isn't...he not...like you—o-or me—or us—not even like _Sadako_ even if the system _insists_ that they're the same—they're _not_. Gaara is...he's _different_, Naruto. Do you understand that?"

Naruto stared at the woman with wide eyes. "I..." he started to say, but he couldn't finish, because he didn't understand what the woman was saying.

"Listen to me, Naruto..." she started. "I didn't think it would come to this...so soon...but you're...beginning to use him—like the others, and I _don't_—" she stopped short to shake her head again. "I-I don't know if it's because of what you've been through, I don't know if it's because you're frustrated, and angry but—he's just been through _so_ much, and he doesn't _need_ another person to—" she sucked in a breath, as if this was very difficult for her. "He doesn't need any more than what's already happened. H-he's only just _begun_ to—" she stopped again, and Naruto felt a moment's frustration. He just wanted the woman to spit it out already. What did he have to know? What was so difficult for her?

Kurenai sighed and put a hand to her forehead. "I just...I don't want you to turn into one of them...into the people who've...hurt him...That's why...That's why I'm going to tell you everything, Naruto." she looked at the blonde with solemn eyes then. "And it's not just because you're becoming...like them—it's more than that. It has to be more than that. I c-_an't_ tell just anyone about Gaara. But I'm telling you because you're going to be with him for three months—and I _told_ Kakashi to reassign you-I told him that you would be better off with someone like Choji—someone who was—who was just not _Gaara_, but of course Kakashi had plans for you two...he thinks Gaara can...help you...But, Naruto...what I'm really worried about...is whether or not...you'll be able to help him..."

Naruto wanted to say something. He wanted to say that he didn't understand what Kurenai was saying. But he couldn't bring himself to. Not when the woman looked like it was taking every part of her to tell the blonde this.

"Just listen, Naruto...Don't say a word...Just listen. I want you to know everything...and maybe when I'm done...you'll know why I hit you today." she paused then, and took one look at Naruto.

Naruto blinked back at her, before he nodded his head. He wished he had a chair to sit on. He had a feeling he would need it sometime along whatever Kurenai had to say to him. The woman looked at him one more time, before she moved back to her place against the cabinet, folded her arms, and put her head down. Naruto looked at her apprehensively. He opened his mouth to speak, "Ho—"

"Karura and Yashamaru Sabako." Kurenai said, stopping Naruto before he could begin. "Twenty four years ago, they conceived Gaara, in Suna City—a large city one hundred miles away from this place." she paused then, and her fingers twitched. "They were siblings."

Naruto flinched backwards. _What_?

Kurenai smiled a sad smile. "Brother and sister...to be exact. Which is about the closest you could get to incest, wasn't it? And twenty-four years ago, in that large city, it was the kind of thing that could put you into jail ." Kurenai blew a long breath and ran a hand through her hair. "It would have been a public trial, were it not for one small thing—or maybe—a big thing, considering how much it affected their lives...

"Kage Kaze, the mayor of Suna City...was in love with Karura. So in love, in fact, that even after he'd found out that she'd been impregnated by Yashamaru, he didn't send her to the authorities for a trial. Instead he made a deal with her. He said if she aborted the child, he wouldn't tell anyone what she'd done. Did I mention that Karura had been married with Kage at the time? So not only did she commit incest, but adultery as well." Kurenai shook her head. "She'd already given birth to two children. Temari, and Kankuro—but she never loved him—not like she loved—No. I'm getting ahead of myself.

"Anyway. Even after Karura betrayed her husband, Kage didn't want to hurt her. H-he tried to send Yashamaru to jail instead, but Karura begged him not to...and because Kage was so in love with her...he left Yashamaru alone. But there was one thing that Kage couldn't see through to, no matter how much Karura begged him for it. Karura wanted to keep the baby. The mayor would have none of it. He thought that something would be wrong with it, because studies have shown that when...people with too similar genetic qualities conceive children, the child comes out...d-deformed or just...not..._right_.

"But still. Karura wanted to keep it. She had full confidence that her child wouldn't turn out...different."

Naruto, throughout the story, felt his eyes grow wider and wider. Gaara's parents were...siblings? He didn't know much, but he knew that something like that...was just...not right.

"When Karura realized that Kage would never agree to her keeping the baby, she ran away to her brother, Yashamaru, who'd been in hiding. Yashamaru knew that if any of Kage's "people" found him, they would kill him and blame it on a freak accident. That's the way Kage like to work things. Suna was part of a very corrupt government back then." Kurenai sighed and pushed herself off the cabinet. "Karura stayed in hiding, for six months, on the outskirts of the city with her brother before Kage's men found them. By that time, Karura had planned on never coming back to Kage, and living with her brother, and raising the child for the rest of their lives—even having _more_. But when the mayor's men found them...they took Karura back to the city and...they shot Yashamaru in the head.

"Kage brought Karura back with the full intentions of killing the child and setting her up to look like a crazy woman, so that there would be little sympathy when the inevitable news reports of Karura's dead child came out—or rather—little sympathy towards her, and all the sympathy towards _him_. You see, Kage had a sort of notoriety in the city. There was some sort of political unrest in the city. Everyone knew him. Everyone hated him. Everyone kept track of what he was doing. Which is why he had people lie for him and events made up to cover his crimes—like the crime he tried to commit by murdering Karura's child.

"But it didn't work like that. News that Karura had come back left the press on the Kaze family's back like vultures, and Karura, who'd already been accused of being crazy by her husband, was quoted accusing her husband of trying to kill her baby. So the killing of the child surreptitiously was impossible. Kage had a reputation to keep. Any sort of fault, any sort of controversy that would make him look bad would take away his status and privileges as a mayor forever. So," Kurenai said, looking at to the side. "He decided to hold a conference. We still have that conference on file. In the conference he told the press that his wife was insane—that he met a man in the outskirts of the city that impregnated her, and then brainwashed her into thinking that she had to protect the child no matter what—and led her to think that everyone was out to kill it. There were some skeptics, but people wouldn't let go of news like that, so whenever Karura, in the final months of her pregnancy, was spotted—Kage loved her too much to keep her closed in—no one would ever believe what she said, especially when she claimed people were out to harm her child.

"Finally, the day came when Karura went into labor. Kage, in the months before, had planned exactly the way the baby would die. No one knows what that plan was, but it was supposed to be full-proof, leaving Karura for the Kage to have for himself, and her child tragically killed in the womb. He'd hired doctors for the process, and everything.

"No one really recalls the relationship Karura and Kage had indoors, but the disparity in it was enough for the mayor to underestimate her ability to make a plan for herself. When she went into labor, she told no one. She had hired her own people, to take her to a hospital, with a crowd of the press following the ambulance. News that Karura was in labor was city-wide news—the exact opposite of what Kage wanted, and by the time he reached the hospital to take Karura to the private facility he'd wanted her to have the baby in, the cameras were already crowding the hospital room—with permission of Karura of course—zooming in on a gasping, crying redheaded baby—

And a dead Karura."

Kurenai looked up at Naruto for the first time then. Naruto felt like his eyes would jump out of their sockets with how wide open he held them. When…when Kurenai had told him that she would tell Gaara's story, he expected…well, he didn't know what to expect—but it certainly wasn't _this_.

"And the camera's recorded everything." Kurenai continued softly. "They saw the mayor walking in, dramatically slow, towards the lifeless body of his wife with the piercing sound of his son echoing in the background. He'd bawled then. Right in front of the cameras, taking Karura's dead hand and sinking his head into her stomach—on live television.

"The mayor was devastated. His entire plan went to shit. His wife, the love of his life, was left dead, and he was left, with the child he tried so desperately to kill. He still had the chance to kill it of course. The child was taken to the Kaze home after three days in the hospital, so Kage could have always thrown it out the window, and blamed it on a maid—but he didn't. He was…smarter than that. He was devastated, angry, and at a loss, but the only thing that seemed clear to him, was the political power that the sympathy of the city brought with it. He came to the next mayor election, with his son, in one hand, crocodile tears in his eyes, and a mind blowing speech about love, life, and family." Kurenai stopped then, to scoff.

"Kage won that election." She said after a long while. "He won the next six as well, with his son—with Gaara—by his side." Kurenai sighed and closed her eyes.

"Kage was assassinated twelve years after Gaara was born….but," she said, looking up at Naruto again. "…his death didn't come soon enough. Gaara was already…ruined." Kurenai broke off again, and it sounded like she would sob, but Naruto was relieved when she didn't. "Naruto I want you to think about this." She started again. "Gaara's father, tried to kill him from the day he knew of his existence inside the womb of his mother. Now ask yourself, what kind of life is a boy like that, going to live when that same father is forced to live with him to retain political status?"

There were words in that statement that Naruto didn't understand—but it didn't matter. He understood. He understood the…the scars. Gaara…was born into hate, wasn't he? The two people who could have loved him—his parents—were dead, and he was left with a man who…who used him to gain political power. Naruto felt a wave of guilt overwhelm him. And he…he'd been using Gaara all he wanted this past hour, hadn't he…?

"But that's hardly the end of it." Kurenai said when it seemed Naruto understood. "Gaara…" she paused again to shake her head. "He wasn't…" she seemed to be at a loss for words. "W-when he was born—nothing…_seemed _wrong…but...as he grew older…there were…certain things…that were too strange to ignore. Things that made him…abnormal. Different. From the other kids. He never…spoke. It took him three years to say his first words…he was generally…uninterested in everything—even as a child. H-he never laughed. He never _cried_. Even under the torture I know he was going through…he never said anything." Kurenai sighed and banged light fists against the cabinet. "And of course, the mayor took into account that Gaara was the product of siblings—so without any tests, without any sort of medical _justification_, he labeled his son something that would follow him for the rest of his life. Something that, by Suna City Law, you are to have on you at all times once diagnosed, no matter where you are, no matter where you go, as a Suna citizen, you are to be seen with this identification." Kurenai pushed herself from the cabinet and took a few steps towards the blonde. "Naruto…" she started softly. "I'm sure you've noticed…" she closed her eyes for a moment, and shook her head. "Gaara's father declared his son an MR M," she opened her eyes then, and this close up, Naruto felt the redness of them pierce right through him, "Mentally Retarded Male."

Naruto stumbled backwards. "M-m-mentally—"

"Yes." Kurenai said gravely. She crossed her arms then, and glared into Naruto's eyes. "But it was Gaara's ignorant father who gave him that label—for all to see so they would sympathize with him, and re-elect him over and _over_ again—but it's _not_—!" she stopped short and banged her hand against the cabinet again. "It's not _accurate_." She hissed. Then she began to pace. "Yes, Gaara is a little different; yes he's a little strange—but for his own _father_ to declare him a-a-a retard, without proper diagnostics? It was _insane_!"

Naruto jumped back when Kurenai said that. She was whiling out now.

"That's why we brought him here, that's why we took him out of that city of ignorant _fools_, and brought him this clinic ten years ago. It was so he could be given the _proper_ treatment, the _proper_ diagnoses, and the _proper_ environment for someone with his disorder." The woman was breathing harshly now, looking back at Naruto with wide eyes.

Naruto hesitated before he spoke. "W-what is…" he cleared his throat. "What is Gaara's disorder?"

Kurenai looked up at Naruto with squinted for a long moment before she spoke. "SPD," she said quietly. "Schizoid Personality disorder."

Naruto found his chest constricted even though he didn't know what the words meant exactly. But the weight in which Kurenai said them, proved to him how dire a situation like this was.

He asked the only question he could ask, considering his lack of knowledge. "Is it…bad?"

Kurenai let out a soft noise that sounded like a laugh trying to escape her mouth and not making it passed her lips. "Bad?" she asked with light incredulity. "No. Not at all. Serious? Maybe. But bad? No. Never."

"And…" Naruto began, "That woman…the nurse…you said that she and Gaara were—"

"Sadako." Kurenai said. "My sister. She and I moved to Suna with our family when we were very young, and the same way Gaara's father declared him an MR M, the school system declared Sadako an MR F—the F for female." Kurenai closed her eyes. "Sadako was the reason why I decided to expand this clinic's services in the first place. My late husband's father owned this place, and when he died, he wanted to tear it down. But I wouldn't allow that. I wanted to create something that would help people like my sister. And along the way we found Gaara, who'd moved to the city with their uncle on their father's side. I think his name was Ibiki. He was the one who admitted Gaara into this hospital…" she trailed off then, and looked to the door. "A lot happened in the last ten years since Gaara was admitted. Enough to scar him further than his time in his father's hands could…but…one thing remains the same." She said, standing up straight again. "Gaara is a _good_ person, no matter what anyone says—no matter the misconceptions, no matter the diagnoses—I've _seen_ Gaara, and it's so plain to see how…caring, unselfish,—just how _good_ he is." She closed her eyes and shook her head again. "I just wish the others could see that—"

"The others?"

"Yes. The others. His brother, his sister, his ex-wife—I just wished that—"

"His ex-_what_?" Naruto half shouted, sitting up straight for the tenth time.

Kurenai gave him one look before shaking her head. "It's nothing. Just another long story—another result of Kakashi's mistake of not telling everyone about Gaara's condition—"

"Who was it?" Naruto asked quickly. He didn't know why, but his heart was thumping hard enough to hurt. Gaara had been…married? To who? Was it…was it the woman he saw in the clinic not too long ago? The pregnant woman who'd kissed Gaara on the cheek—

"It hardly matters, Naruto. It happened years ago, and you've probably never met the woman. She was young, beautiful, and fell hard for Gaara's aloofness—his listlessness. Gaara didn't…he never…_loved_ her, but the woman claimed to have loved him, and to keep her happy, Gaara married her." Kurenai waved a hand as if casting the thought aside. "They almost lasted a year. Then Sakura lost the baby and it all went to shit."

Naruto felt a shock ring through him. There were so many things he could grab from that sentence that he found it hard to think clearly. Gaara had been married. To…Sakura? The name was familia—

Then Naruto remembered. The beautiful women—in the car, with the pink hair. Gaara had been—and they had—and then she'd gotten—

"Naruto." Kurenai said, bringing Naruto out of his thoughts. "Don't think too much about it. It was nothing. A fling. Something that was never supposed to happen."

Naruto looked at her for a moment before he nodded his head. "So…" he started, so he could get the mind-boggling fact that Gaara had been with another woman _intimately_ before out of his mind. "Wwhat exactly…is..Schiz…"

"Schizoid Personality Disorder?" the woman said crossing her arms over her chest. "The text book definition is simple. It's a person who can't feel or relate to emotions. It is a person who'd simply rather be alone, then have to deal with the hassle of being with others. It is a person who, by definition, is emotionally and frigidly, cold."

Naruto blinked at her. Then he blinked again. "But…" he started softly. "Gaara…isn't…any of those things…" he finished.

Kurenai blinked back at him. The cross of her arms loosened. "What makes you say that?" she asked lightly.

Naruto looked away. "Well…Gaara…isn't…cold. He…" Naruto shrugged his shoulders. "He's actually… very…nice." Naruto was remembering the times Gaara told him to put on his seatbelt. "A-and… I don't know about relation to them…but…he _cares_…about other people's emotions…"

"_Because you were upset."_

What the redhead had answered when Naruto asked why he'd brought the dog to the hospital was ringing in his ears. He looked up to face Kurenai then, and found the red-eyed woman looking back at him with wide eyes.

Then she smiled. "Well, now." She said.

Naruto raised an eyebrow. "What?"

Kurenai only shook her head. "Nothing. I just want you to know that…SPD's text book definition doesn't relate to Gaara—not anymore—but when he came to us for the first time—misunderstood and violent—he had all the symptoms, all the signs…He's only just _begun_ to come out of that shell. They say that SPD is hereditary, but I feel…" she paused then, and leaned in as if she wanted to whisper, "but I feel…that it's got _nothing_ to do with genes. It has _nothing_ to do with who his _biological_ parents were—but it has everything to do with It's what happened to him, under the care of his _monster_ of a father, it was his time in that house that turned him into the man he used to be—the man he still _is_, in a way. Do you understand me, Naruto?"

Naruto nodded his head.

"Do you also understand why I hurt you?"

Naruto nodded his head. Of course he knew. Kurenai was driven to help the redhead because of his past, and the thought of someone else taking advantage of Gaara the way his father did made her snap. Naruto was ashamed of himself. What was he thinking? Allowing himself to order Gaara around like that…

Naruto was shaking his head now. Everything about Gaara…seemed to fall into place now…But one thing didn't seem to add up.

"If…if all of this is true than…how did…Why is Gaara a policeman?"

Kurenai smiled at him. "The man who took care of the Kaze siblings after Kage was assassinated was head of the Kongata police force. He had enough connections, and enough hope in Gaara to hand him a small job in the department. Gaara started as some-what of a paperboy. But he moved up while he was there. Don't ask me how—I'm not really sure how he proved to the others that he could suffice as an officer despite his…you know. His brother, though— Kankuro, wanted to be in the police force from the beginning. Ibiki would have probably placed Gaara somewhere else, but he wanted the two to work in the same place…"

At the mention of Gaara's brother, Naruto's eyes narrowed. "Gaara's brother…why does he…"

"Hate Gaara?" Kurenai finished for him, "there are tons of reasons. Gaara was treated like a slave in his father's house—it's only natural for his brother to continue to think down on him—but there were other problems that came up afterwards. Petty problems having to do with jealousy. It doesn't really matter anymore. Those two will never get along." Kurenai sighed and shook her head. "Alright, Naruto. It's…getting late. We have to get you a room," Kurenai said, walking towards the door. "We'll…talk more in the morning, but for now, I think you need the rest of the night to take all of this in."

Naruto nodded at her, and followed her out the door. When they stepped out, Naruto was surprised to find Gaara, standing there with his arms crossed, and looking at the door with that same plain face—listless, but not unaffable, emotionless, but not cold.

"Gaara, "Naruto heard Kurenai say. When he looked at her, she had a smile on her face, and extended her arms towards Gaara. "You didn't have to _wait_." She said when she reached him. She brushed a hair behind the redhead's ear, and patted his head. The redhead looked down at her, expressionlessly. Now Naruto knew where that expressionlessness came from. Gaara was…he was…_different_. But…not _retarded_. He didn't like the way that sounded. He didn't like that Gaara would have to carry that around for the rest of his life, because the redhead was a _lot_ of things, but he wasn't retarded. He was…he was different.

Did that…change things? Was Naruto supposed to see Gaara differently now? Reborn maybe? Into a different person, someone he could sympathize with, understand, and be more cautious around?

Hesitantly, Naruto walked up to the two. Kurenai saw him coming, and gave him a small smile. "I should be getting you two to your rooms for the night." She said, slipping away.

Naruto would have nodded at her, but he was too busy looking at Gaara, who was looking at him. They were sharing something that Naruto couldn't really put his hands on. Something intimate. Naruto blinked. He tried to smile up at Gaara. Strange Gaara, quiet Gaara, scarred Gaara—but still Gaara.

"Hey." He said lightly. He didn't know why he said it. It was such a redundant thing to say, but he didn't regret it when Gaara lifted himself from the leaning position on the wall, inclined his head down towards the blonde and mumbled, in a small voice, "Hi."

Naruto beamed at him. Yes. Yes, the information he'd learned about Gaara just now was going to make things different, was going to _change_ things.

But Naruto, with his eyes on the way Gaara began to walk in that slow and lazy way behind Kurenai who was disappearing in the hall, knew that it would only be for the better.

* * *

End of Chapter

**Author Notes**

T_T I know this took a while. Forgive me, but it's hard to update when you've got finals, college applications, money dues, and a Jewish boyfriend who won't buy you a present because he doesn't _believe _in Christmas! xD

**Story Notes**

**11,600 words!**

Haha, totally wasn't expecting that entire background of how Gaara was brought into this world, but I supposed I got carried away. But _Wow_, we find out a lot about Gaara in this chapter—but there's still a lot of things that we don't know. I couldn't put all the goodies into one chapter you know. =]

I think the next chapter will be more of Naruto settling into a new resolve as to the proper way to take care himself. We will address the pain he felt in his stomach earlier in the chapter. And I might bring Sasuke in as well-I'm not sure yet.

Anyway—stay tuned.

Oh, and Happy Holidays!


	12. Friends

**Oblivion**

Chapter Twelve: _Friends_

_

* * *

_

Things were…different now.

Weren't they?

The two were in what looked like a storage room, except with a bed. The walls were an off-white color—not like the blinding white in the regular hospital rooms— and there were a few cabinets in the corners, probably stuffed with towels and nurse's attire like the cabinets in the other room they'd been in.

Naruto had the small urge to laugh.

If he was told that he would be lying on the same bed as Gaara a few days ago, he probably would have started shaking like a nervous idiot, wondering what the hell he could do to screw things up in such an…intimate situation.

But now…

"Gaara?"

The redhead blinked up at the ceiling for a moment, before he turned to face the blonde. Naruto smiled up at him. They had never stayed this close to each other for this long. It had probably been an hour since Kurenai had shoved them in here, apologizing for the smallness, and the single bed, but it really felt like minutes to Naruto. So many things were going through his head. He had his body turned to the side, facing Gaara, while the policeman was lying on his back, staring up at the ceiling. Naruto wasn't able to sleep, and he wasn't surprised to find the redhead in the same predicament.

"Can't sleep?" he asked lightly. He wasn't nervous. Only tired.

Gaara was really looking at him now from what Naruto could tell from the dark. Their faces weren't that close, but enough for Naruto to think he should have been a bit more nervous than he was.

"No."

Naruto risked another smile. "Me neither."

Naruto thought he saw the redhead blink at him, before turning away again.

Naruto sighed—contentedly. He knew for sure now that Gaara's indifference didn't have anything to do with something Naruto did. It was just the way Gaara was. He was unabashedly staring at Gaara now, knowing he wouldn't be judged for it. He wasn't taking advantage of the policeman's…condition. He was only taking notice of it, and putting it to mind every time he wondered what the redhead thought of him.

He considered talking to the Gaara some more, but decided against it for now. The redhead's eyes weren't closed, but they were dimmed in a way that suggested fatigue. Naruto wasn't sure how he himself looked. He knew he was tired—exhausted even—but he couldn't sleep. Not just yet. He shifted a bit in his position so that his head was further up the pillow on the bed. Now his head was leveled with Gaara's instead of all the way down. Gaara didn't move when he moved, which both disappointed and relieved Naruto. He didn't want to disturb him, but at the same time, he wanted the redhead to do _something_.

When Gaara only continued to stare at the ceiling, Naruto sighed and resigned to simply looking at the policeman. He shifted in place so he had his hands folded in front of him, partially obscuring the view of Gaara from the chin down. When the two of them were this close, Naruto could have easily reached over and brushed Gaara's hair with a finger.

Naruto blinked. What was stopping from doing that? He knew Gaara wouldn't mind. He wouldn't do anything about it—

Wait. Naruto shut his eyes tightly. He was doing it again. He was using Gaara's condition to justify actions that he wouldn't have done otherwise. It wasn't nearly as bad as forcing the policeman to take him back home early in the morning, but it required the same mindset. Naruto had to treat the redhead like everyone else deserved to be treated. He had to realize that it didn't matter what Gaara would do, it was whether he gave the blonde _permission_ to do it. Naruto understood now, why Kurenai always asked the policeman things, making sure that he was _okay_ with things before she actually did them. She wanted to make a point. She wanted everyone to see that his opinion mattered…even if it seemed he would agree to anything.

Naruto's fingers twitched slightly. Did that mean…that he would have to _ask_ the redhead if he could touch his hair? Naruto blinked and shook his head. No; that was stupid. He would keep to himself, and that was that.

Naruto sighed and closed his eyes. He figured that, if he closed them, the sleep would come to him.

It wasn't long before it did.

* * *

When Naruto opened his eyes again, it almost hurt to. There was no window in the room, but the white walls, for some reason, were enough for him to wince as he blinked. His limbs felt like lead, and they cracked when they tried to stretch. His stiffness, however, didn't prevent him from reeling back when he saw Gaara looking back at him.

"A-ah…" Naruto started, startled. "You're…already awake?"

Gaara said nothing.

Naruto narrowed his eyes at Gaara's eyes. They were dimmed, the same way they were before Naruto fell asleep, and slightly red. "Gaara…" he started slowly. "Did you…sleep?"

The redhead blinked slowly in response, and Naruto, for some reason, knew what that meant. "You…_didn't_?" he asked incredulously. He didn't know what time it was, but he felt as if a lot of time had passed since he'd fallen asleep. He sat up on the bed to look at the redhead better.

"Gaara…why didn't you sleep?"

Gaara, apparently not interested in the blonde anymore, turned away. He blinked at the ceiling a few times, and were it not for the small twitch of his mouth, Naruto would have turned away. Instead he sat up a bit more, and looked down at Gaara.

"Gaara?" he urged lightly. He almost found it funny how he was being as confident as he was. A mere two days ago he would have cowered under the picture of authority he'd place over the redhead, and now he was urging him, the way he would to a child, to speak up.

Gaara blinked at the ceiling another time before his eyes traveled slowly to meet Naruto's.

Naruto shivered slightly. He was wrong to think that Gaara still didn't scare him. Those _eyes_. They were…Naruto didn't know what word to describe them. He only knew that eyes like that could look predatory or dangerous when they needed to. But at the same time…he knew he didn't really have to be afraid of Gaara—so he spoke again, "Why…didn't you sleep?"

The policeman continued to look at him before he blinked, and turned to look at the ceiling again. Naruto stilled when he saw the redhead open his mouth. But before he said anything, Gaara suddenly sat up in the bed, making the blonde fall back a bit. Gaara had a sheet that was too small to reach to his feet—which Naruto only _now_ noticed still had _boots _on—so it took no time at all for the redhead to pull it off and stand up from the bed.

It took Naruto a while before he started standing up too. He didn't know what was going on, but he figured it would be better to trust the redhead. "Are we going somewhere?" he asked as he placed his feet into his tattered sneakers. Gaara, unsurprisingly, said nothing. When Naruto turned around, he saw the redhead looking at him, possibly waiting for him to finish up. Naruto stood up slowly, and waited. Gaara looked at him for a moment more before he turned and walked towards the door. Naruto sighed and stood up to follow. Old frustrations were coming back to him, like his need for Gaara to _say_ things.

When the both of them stepped outside of the room, Naruto realized how unadjusted his eyes were. The blaring light of the hospital assaulted him in a way that it didn't before. It wasn't like the sting you felt when something was too bright—the pain that you felt in the back of your eyes— instead Naruto felt something aching right in his eyeball, as if a contact was misplaced in the whites of his eyes, but less intense.

Naruto wasn't sure if Gaara noticed his discomfort until he felt the policeman's hand on his arm. It was then that he realized his eyes were closed, or at least squinted enough to block the light. "G-Gaara…" he started lightly. A tear fell out of his eye, but it had nothing to do with emotions. "I think…I don't…my _eye_—"

He stopped when Gaara began pulling him along, down the hallways. Naruto stumbled for a few moments, before he started to walk steadily. He decided to close his eyes completely. He didn't know what the hell was wrong with them. He felt the throb of panic rise in him. Why was it that everyday something was going wrong with him? The blonde put a hand to cover his eye then, because they'd entered a corridor where it was particularly bright. There were also a lot of people around, if the commotion was any indication. He didn't know what anyone was saying, and he didn't know how he looked to all these people. All he knew was that his eyes were stinging, and Gaara was leading him somewhere.

They were walking fast enough that Naruto felt the need to jog, but couldn't. With every step his hand was partially lifted from his face, and light beamed through his eyelids. It wasn't as bad when his eyes were closed, but it still hurt.

It was a while before Gaara finally came to a stop. Naruto heard a bit of shuffling and people's voices before Gaara suddenly let go. The blonde would have reached for him, only he'd blinded himself at the moment. Naruto risked removing the arm he'd hung over his eyes to see where they were, and regretted less than a second later. The pain wasn't as bad as it was when he'd just exited the room Kurenai had left them in, but it was enough for him to never want to try it again.

"Kaze-san?" that was a woman's voice Naruto wasn't familiar with, but at the same time it gave him a bit of relief because it meant the redhead was close. "What happened?"

"Sarutobi." Gaara's voice.

Naruto raised an eyebrow. Sarutobi? Who was that? Oh, right—

"Kurenai-sensei is busy with paperwork right now, I'm afraid. Is there anyone else—"

The woman stopped suddenly, as if she'd been interrupted, and Naruto suddenly felt someone tugging him again. "Wha—"

"Kaze-san? Please don't go in—!"

The woman was cut off again, and Naruto felt himself being pulled through a door—possibly one of the double doors that were around the hospital.

He was proved wrong though, when he heard Kurenai's voice. "Gaara? Naruto?" there was the sound of a chair scraping back and Naruto realized that they weren't in a hallway anymore. The acoustics suggested a small room. "What's going on? Naruto, why are you covering your eyes?"

Naruto heard steps coming closer to him, and panicked when a soft hand touched the arm covering his eyes. "W-wait," he started. "I…every time I open my eyes…the brightness—it—"

"Shh…" Kurenai started, and now Naruto felt both hands on his arm. "What I want you to do is shut your eyes as tightly as you can, and remove your arm."

Naruto hesitated a bit, but he finally did as he was told. There was a period of silence after he did so. He felt Kurenai's fingers trace areas around his eyes and on his cheeks.

"Hmm," she finally said, after a long time. "There's nothing unusual surrounding your eye, which means it isn't some sort of allergy or infection from any outside bacteria like I thought it would be. That means that whatever is bothering is actually caused by something in your eye." She paused then, and Naruto heard her cluck her tongue. "You said your eyes hurt every time you open them?"

Naruto nodded. "Where it's bright."

Kurenai 'hmm'ed and Naruto felt her hands on his chin, tilting it. "Alright then, Naruto. I'd take you to one of our patient rooms, but those rooms are brighter than the hallways."

"Uh…" Naruto started. "It…it isn't as bad…as before…"

"Really?" Kurenai said. And Naruto felt her pull away from him. "Would you say that the pain has dimmed down enough for you to stand the pain of a light in your eye?"

Naruto hesitated before shaking his head no. "S…sorry."

"It's understandable."

Then Naruto heard a click, and all of the sudden, the lids of his eyes didn't see that blaring orange anymore.

"I've turned off the lights Naruto. I want you to open your eyes."

Naruto did as he was told. There was a slight pain, but he knew it was only because he'd kept his eyes closed for so long. It was completely dark until a small light emitted from the corner of the room. Naruto blinked rapidly a few times.

"Don't close your eyes, Naruto." said the white light, or rather Kurenai, who was holding it. It was as if a flashlight was emitting from a pen or something. Naruto took a small step back when the light took a few steps forwards. "What I'm going to do, Naruto," started Kurenai, "is I'm going to run this light across your eye. It isn't fluorescent like the lights outside, although I'm not sure that will make a difference. I want you to try your best to keep your eyes open, Naruto."

The blonde took a deep breath and watched Kurenai come closer to him with the light in your hands. Every time Naruto's eyes landed on the light, it hurt a bit, but not like it hurt outside.

Finally Kurenai was in front of him, and Naruto could see her raise her arms. He wondered what he was supposed to do, but then Kurenai's hand was at his jaw, and tilting his head slightly back. "Naruto, I want you to stare at the ceiling." Naruto did as he was told. He then felt and saw the light. He winced a bit, but didn't close his eyes.

"Hmm…" started Kurenai. "It's…it's strange because sensitivity to light is not one of the side effects of gastric lavage…"

Naruto didn't know what she was talking about.

"…I understood the nosebleed you had yesterday. It's an uncommon, but natural side effect of the procedure, but sensitivity to light…" suddenly the light was on his other eye. "it's..." she paused for a long time then, before she changed the position of the light. Finally she asked, "Naruto, you were born with gray eyes, right?"

Naruto blinked a few times. "I…when I was born…" he paused. "They were blue."

Kurenai shifted the light. "Blue? Not…gray?"

Naruto shook his head. "I…they changed….after…When I left school."

Kurenai 'hmm'ed and put the light right above Naruto's eye. Naruto winded a bit, but more from the anticipation of pain then actual pain. He realized that it didn't really hurt to have the light in his eyes anymore.

"I," he started. "Don't really…feel the pain anymore." He said lamely.

Kurenai nodded her head, but her brows were furrowed. "I don't know what to say Naruto. I'm not an expert on eyes the way an optometrist would be, but I know for sure that…your eyes are changing."

Naruto blinked before slightly pulling away to stare at her. "What do you mean?" he asked slowly.

Kurenai pulled away from him completely but left the small light hover in between them. "Your eyes, Naruto. They're changing. I don't know how, or why, but I know they're changing." She paused to look around the dark room. "Do you think I could turn on the light now?"

Naruto nodded his head.

Kurenai nodded back and disappeared to the back of the room. There was the muffled sound of her footsteps, and a click. And then the lights were on again. Naruto squinted, but it didn't hurt to keep his eyes open. When he looked around the room he saw that it was in fact more of an office. Naruto almost jumped when he saw Gaara standing near a wall with his hands at his sides, staring at him.

He had to take his attention away from the policeman when he saw Kurenai walking back towards him. "Uhm…h-how are my eyes changing?" he asked, before she reached him.

Kurenai paused and looked around the room as if looking for something again before sighing. "You'll take a look in the mirror later. There are bright blue flecks floating in your eyes, Naruto." She said. "Right in the center surrounding your pupil—which has strangely still not fully dilated since I turned on the lights…"she finished slowly.

Naruto blinked as much as he could with his eyes squinted the way they were. "I…don't understand."

Kurenai shrugged. "I don't understand it either, but I know what I see. You don't have any history of wearing glasses, do you?"

Naruto shook his head.

"Did you feel you needed glasses at any point in time?"

Naruto shook his head.

"That's what I thought." Kurenai said knowingly. "At first I thought you might have caught some sort of infection, but it wouldn't have explained why your eyes were so sensitive to the light, and it doesn't explain why your pupils are so slow to dilate."

"Ah," Naruto started. "Dilate…that's…that's when my eyes get bigger and smaller right?"

"Your pupil, yes."

Naruto looked away. "Yeah. I remember, my eyes—uh, my pupil—was always…slow…to do that. A-a doctor said that."

Kurenai blinked at him. "That makes things more complicated then." She said. "You're eyes are changing, and I don't know why. We'll ask Kakashi about getting you an appointment with an optometrist." She sighed and went back to her desk. "I'm sorry I'm rushing through this, Naruto, but I feel we have more pressing matters besides your eyes, at the moment." She gestured towards the two chairs in front of her desk. "Please sit."

Naruto did as he was told, already afraid of what the doctor was going to lay on them now.

"Gaara?" Kurenai said politely. "That means you to." She didn't wait to see if the redhead would take her offer. Instead she turned right back to Naruto and gave him a sigh and a shake of her head. "Alright, Naruto." she said lightly. "Kakashi told me something about a deal he made with you. Something about you telling him the information he needed so he could incriminate a group of individuals responsible for smuggling illegal drugs into the city."

Naruto felt his heart race. With all the things going on, Naruto had almost forgotten the reason he'd been in this mess in the first place.

"I don't think Kakashi would have brought this up so soon, but there was an incident. It happened almost two days ago, but it was picked up by another branch of policemen. Kakashi was only called yesterday night about the whole thing."

Naruto shivered slightly in his seat. He didn't like where this was going.

"Naruto, two days ago, a large amount of an unidentified powdered white substance was found on the floor of an apartment building—only a few blocks away from yours. The substance was found by a janitor, supposedly the day after it was deposited, and the janitor, apparently experienced in this sort of thing, identified the substance as crystal methamphetamine. He called the police. The policeman that came forward took the crystal—which had been in a zip lock bag half full—questioned the man, who turned out to be telling the truth, and after a day of holding it, finally took the bag to the main branch—Kakashi's branch—which identified the meth as the exact type they'd been trying to track down the owner of. Kakashi thinks that you might know something about this meth. He's hoping you could tell him something that might give him a lead on who he's supposed to take down."

Naruto's eyes were fully open now—but what he would have _given_ to have been able to shut his ears. His heart wasn't racing in his chest. Instead it was beating sluggishly. Naruto breathed with difficulty multiple times before the first coherent thought passed through his head.

_Shit_.

He'd completely forgotten about the meth. _Completely_.

Naruto let his hands dig into the sides of the chair he sat on. He didn't know what to say. Did his acquittal from jail follow him into this act—the one that he didn't tell Kakashi about? He didn't think so. All Kakashi knew was that he'd overdosed on suspicious drugs. He didn't know that Naruto had left a large amount of it in the staircase of a building, for hundreds of people to see and possibly be affected by it. Naruto didn't think that Kakashi would forgive him for that, and he didn't think Tsunade would be able to keep him out of jail for doing that.

If that was the case, then what was he supposed to say? Was he supposed to lie? Should he tell Kurenai that he knew nothing about it and get on with his life? Was there any way that they could find out it was him if he didn't tell the truth—

"I can see you turning this around in your head, Naruto." Kurenai said slowly. "I wanted to wait to see what you'll say but…I think it's better if I tell you this first." She sat up in her chair and gave Naruto a look of sympathy. "When police questioned people in the building, some said that a crazy blonde, about your height and size, came into the building a few days ago, screaming and shouting obscenities against a door. Police identified who lived behind the door and when the person came out to speak to him…he confirmed that you were indeed that blonde, Naruto."

Naruto shut his eyes. He didn't think Sasuke would rat him out like that, so it had to be that rat face bastard from hell Neji. Naruto twitched slightly. It was still fine though. Just because people knew he was in the building that day, didn't mean that—

"The person they spoke to seemed to know you well, Naruto." Kurenai continued. "And Kakashi decided that it would be…beneficial to speak with them. Like an interview."

Naruto took a moment to process what Kurenai just said, before he allowed his heart to stop. He blinked a few times, before he swallowed the wad of spit accumulating in his throat. "Wh—" he paused to swallow again. "What?"

Kurenai sighed and leaned back in her chair. "Kakashi's interviewing, probably at this very moment, someone who claims to know you. I don't know much about the details except that Kakashi thinks this interview will give him a lead on what he's been trying to figure out these past few months." She paused to brush her hair back, "Naruto, I don't know what kind of deal you made with Kakashi concerning your acquittal, but I want you to trust him. Kakashi wouldn't do something that would put you into trouble unless he was prepared to get you out if it."

Naruto only blinked at her before put his head down. It was worse than he thought, then. Neji, with his big mouth, was probably going to tell Kakashi everything he knew about Naruto, including who his friends were, and where he usually got his drugs. Naruto wasn't sure if he'd ever revealed this information to Neji, but he was sure that Sasuke, as trusting as he seemed to be of the long haired man, told him quite a bit about Naruto.

"Also, Naruto," Kurenai said, bringing the blonde out of his thought. "Kakashi…told me what they found in your stomach after your gastric lavage—the stomach pump: it was crystal methamphetamine." She looked grave for a moment, before shaking her head. "I want you to tell me the truth Naruto. If you can't say it to Kakashi, at least say it to me. Do you, or do you not have anything to do with the meth that was found in that building two days ago?"

Naruto didn't know what his face looked like, but he knew it was anything but innocent. He felt himself sweating slightly. He was torn. He didn't know what to say. What these people didn't understand was that only thirty percent of his silence had to do with him. The other seventy percent had to do with Haku and his—_her_— incoming child. Naruto shook his head, not realizing that Kurenai would take it as a denial.

"_Naruto_." Kurenai said, her voice thick with disappointment. "Please don't shake your head like that. All the evidence leads to you, and we have witnesses who could reveal everything you done. You don't want to be caught lying, Naruto. Your grandmother's money can only protect you so much."

Naruto let his eyes flutter. Then he had his answer. Kakashi's deal with him wouldn't hold up in this situation. He had to tell them what he'd been doing there, and who he'd gotten the crystal meth from or else they'd put him away when they found out from someone else. Naruto risked brushing a hand through his hair in nervousness. "I-I…" he started. "I don't…" he wondered how much he should really tell Kurenai. She seemed like the kind of woman who would tell what he said to others simply because she thought it would be _best_ for him. She wouldn't understand that he had friends to protect. So instead he shook his head and turned away. "Nothing."

Kurenai looked at him with disappointment. "Naruto…" she urged lightly. "Please; Kakashi is coming today. He might bring his witness. Don't do this to yourself."

Naruto almost scoffed. He'd straight tail it out of here before he allowed himself to be in the same building as Neji.

"He'll want to speak to you when he comes."

Naruto shrugged his shoulders. The thought of Neji was bringing bitterness back into his system. He suddenly remembered the conversation he had with Kakashi, and how angry the gray haired policeman had made him. The blonde crossed his arms and put his head down.

Kurenai didn't say anything to him for a long time, and Naruto didn't look up to see how her face was changing. He heard the woman shift in place and move a few papers around before she finally sighed. "Alright then, Naruto." She said, almost angrily. "Keep everything to yourself. But when everything blows up in your face, I want you to know that I told you so—"

"You don't understand." Naruto said, suddenly, unable to take it anymore. He didn't like it how these people were making it out to seem like he was a bad person for doing this. He'd made mistakes, and he was scum on the bottom of someone's shoe as far as he was concerned, but he was doing this for someone else. Not for him.

"What don't I understand?" Kurenai asked. "_Tell_ me, so I can understand."

Naruto shook his head. "I can't."

Kurenai sighed gustily and stood up. "Fine then." She said. "Keep it to yourself. You aren't allowed to leave the hospital until Kakashi arrives. See if you can keep your mouth shut when he tells you everything the witness told him."

Naruto heard the bitterness in her voice, and he felt bad. He stood up with Kurenai and watched as she walked to her door and opened it. Naruto made a move to step out with Gaara right behind him.

"You're dog's in room 254." Kurenai said finally, before she shut the door behind them. She didn't slam it, but Naruto still jumped a bit.

The two of them stood there for a few moments in silence. Naruto turned to look at the redhead, and saw him looking back at him. Naruto offered a small smile. "Ah," he started. "Can we, uh, go and see Kiba?"

Gaara blinked at him. Naruto blinked back. Then Gaara blinked again.

Naruto fidgeted a bit, in both confusion and impatience. Was Gaara trying to say something? When the blonde stared more at the redhead, he realized that he wasn't going to say anything. Naruto sighed and took a small step back. "Gaara," he started. "We're going to Kiba's room."

Gaara still said nothing.

Naruto squinted. "Uhm…is that…okay?" Naruto didn't want to force the redhead to do anything. If anything, Gaara's silence simply meant that he didn't want to go.

Gaara surprised Naruto when he gave a small nod. The blonde blinked a few times. "O...okay?" The redhead only stared at him, apparently not the kind of person to repeat things twice. Naruto decided that the first nod was enough for him, and began walking slowly to where he thought the staircase was. He looked back every once in a while to see if Gaara was following him. When he saw that he was, Naruto sighed and continued on his way.

* * *

Naruto laid his body on next to Kiba's sleeping form. He'd had an entire one sided argument with Gaara concerning his standing up while Naruto sat in a chair before Naruto boldly made the policeman sit down as he took his own spot on the bed. He could see Gaara from above a small tuff of black dog hair. The redhead was staring into space, instead of anything in particular as Naruto ran a steady hand across Kiba's body. He wasn't sure if he was allowed to be on the bed with patients, but he didn't care. He wanted to be as close as possible to the dog. His dog.

A small sigh escaped Naruto. As much as he enjoyed laying here with Kiba, what Kurenai said to him kept running through his mind. Kakashi was going to come and ask him questions that he couldn't answer. For all he knew, today would be the day that he was sent to jail.

Naruto closed his eyes. If only there was a way that he could go to _Phone Booth_, tell Haku and Zabuza to hide or make a run for it, so Naruto could tell Kakashi information they needed, without them getting into trouble.

Naruto opened his eyes.

What was stopping him? Naruto sighed as he remembered. Kurenai told him he wasn't allowed to leave the building until Kakashi came to speak to him. Damn it, Naruto thought. Just when he thought he was actually coming up with a good idea. The blonde shifted in his bed so he faced the ceiling. What was he supposed to do then? Lie to Kakashi and hope the decision didn't bite him in end? Tell the truth and hope that he wouldn't still be sent to jail? He didn't know.

Naruto scratched his scalp lamely before sighing and closing his eyes. What difference did it make anyway? Naruto, it seemed, was bound to be screwed in whatever situation he was in. If he went to jail because of all this, he would think of it as a sentence that was long overdue.

Ah, but wait. How could he think that when…when he had so much more on the line now? What would happen to Kiba if they sent him to jail? They would put him in the streets or into some sort of dog pound, and Naruto heard how terrible those places could be.

The blonde sighed and shifted so he could see Gaara again. This time the policeman was looking down into his lap with his hair falling over his eyes. Naruto opened his mouth to say something before closing it again. He wasn't sure if talking to Gaara was going to help him any. Gaara seemed like the person who you could spill your heart into, but he wouldn't say anything, or give you any advice. He wouldn't have any ideas to alleviate your pain.

Naruto started to sigh when he paused.

Gaara…was the kind of person who said nothing. No matter what Naruto told him, the redhead wasn't likely to tattle to anyone else, right? Naruto suddenly sat up on the bed. Come to think of it, Gaara was there when Naruto had left that crystal meth on that staircase, and yet he'd said absolutely _nothing_. Gaara hadn't just forgotten about. He chose _not_ to tell. Why was that again?

_It was none of my business._

Right. That had been Gaara's strange reasoning. Naruto shook his head and turned to face the redhead. It was weird thinking of how Naruto viewed the man in the past. He was scarier back then. Strange and untouchable. Now that Naruto thought about it, he'd gotten the redhead all wrong hadn't he? Come to think of it, Kakashi even told him that Gaara would be different—the kind that Naruto could spill the beans to without any consequences.

Naruto took a deep breath. "Gaara?"

The policeman didn't move for a few moments, but when he looked up, Naruto sucked in another breath. Gaara didn't look any different. It was just always a surprise to see him. He was…exotic. Naruto couldn't think of any other word at the moment.

"I…" he started slowly. "I want to…" Naruto blinked. What the hell was he supposed to say? That he wanted to use the redhead as a living diary just for a moment? Naruto decided that it would be best to just go into it. "I…Kurenai said that…—I don't…"Naruto looked away. "I don't know what to _do_, Gaara. I left those drugs on that staircase…a-and I swear I didn't…._mean_ to—it's just that—" Naruto stopped to shake his head; he wasn't making any sense. "Everything is just so messed up." He continued. "And now Neji's going to run his big mouth and probably tell everyone about…" Naruto paused; this was the part where he would have to trust Gaara. "He might tell everyone about Zabuza and Haku."

Naruto stopped there and looked at Gaara to see how the policeman was reacting. The redhead only stared at him with no particular expression on his face—the same way he looked on the staircase. Naruto took a chance and continued. "Zabuza…was the one who sold me the meth. I had to…" Naruto shut his eyes. "I had sex with him to get it. A-and Haku is…he's Zabuza's…partner. He's also pregnant." Naruto looked up to see Gaara's reaction again. The policeman looked the same as always. Naruto wrinkled his nose. "I…I want to tell them that the police are after them. I-I want to visit them at their club—_Phone Booth_—so I can tell them to run. That way…if someone…exposes them…they'll already be gone."

Naruto sighed when he finished, he'd been watching Gaara, and the policeman didn't really make a move to respond. This both irked and pleased the blonde. Gaara not saying anything now, meant that the information was probably safe from everyone else, but at the same time…he wished the redhead could at least…say a few reassuring words. Be more of a friend then just…a living, lifeless diary.

But still…"What do you think…I should do, Gaara?" he asked because he figured, he had absolutely nothing to lose. Gaara wasn't…stupid. There was a chance that maybe he'd have something to say.

To Naruto's surprise the redhead blinked. It wasn't the slow and impassive blink that he did out of necessity. This one made it seem as if the redhead was…surprised? No that couldn't be, because…because what? The policeman was human just like everyone else. He had emotions, right? Naruto was so caught up in the fact that he'd seen some sort of emotion on the redhead's face that he didn't react as fast as he would have when Gaara stood up from his chair.

"Gaara?" the blonde said, moving to stand up as well. "Where are you going?"

Gaara only looked back when he had his hand on the door knob. He looked at Naruto with a small frown, and nodded slowly towards the door. "Haku. Zabuza." He said lightly.

Naruto squinted at him, putting his feet into his shoes. "What? What about them?"

Gaara took his hand off the doorknob and turned to stare at Naruto fully. He didn't say anything for long moments, as if he was waiting for Naruto to figure it out himself. The blonde could only blink at him from the other side of the bed. He found himself being slightly annoyed. He knew Gaara was capable of forming sentences. He saw so first hand in the hospital, when he told that blonde policeman off. "Gaara," Naruto started slowly, trying to sound more curious than impatient. "What do you mean?"

Gaara only blinked at him before he put his hand back on the doorknob. His fingers twitched for one moment before he opened his mouth to speak. He tilted his head at first, as if he was at a loss for words before he spoke. "You have…" he started slowly, "to tell them."

Naruto blinked, not understanding, before he gasped softly. "You mean," he started, "You want….you'll let me…tell Haku and Zabuza?" Naruto made his way around the bed and walked towards the redhead. When he looked into the policeman's eyes, he saw nothing there, as usual, but Naruto somehow knew he'd interpreted correctly. "I…" Naruto shook his head. "I don't…What about Kurenai…Kakashi? They'll…She said I couldn't leave until Kakashi came…" Naruto waited expectantly for Gaara to speak. When he didn't for several moments, Naruto sighed and looked away, making his way back to the bed. "We can't leave the hospital…" he said shaking his head. "We'll get into trouble."

Gaara seemed to hesitate. He turned to face Naruto carefully, before his hands twitched lightly. He looked like he wanted to say something but couldn't quite find the words. Naruto eyed him expectantly, fingering the sheet where Kiba lay. He wasn't as impatient as he would have been yesterday, before he knew about Gaara's…disorder.

When the policeman didn't say anything for long moments, Naruto sighed and looked away. "It's probably better that we just wait for Kakashi to come…and question me, I guess. I'll…I'll have to lie to them, Gaara." He risked a look at the redhead, and found him staring at him with blank eyes. "But I have to do everything I can to protect my friends. Do you…understand that?"

"No."

Naruto blinked at that. When he looked up, Gaara wasn't looking at him. He was instead looking at something on the ground. Naruto was surprised. At first it was because Gaara rarely said anything without being prompted, and then it was because of the actual answer. "Uh…" he started lightly. Then he stopped. Gaara just said that he didn't understand what it meant to do anything for a friend so…

Naruto blinked. So Naruto would _show_ him. With nervous determination, he found his way towards the policeman again. "When you have a friend…" he started lightly. "A really good friend, Gaara…you do everything you can to help them when they're in trouble."

Gaara blinked at him.

Naruto smiled awkwardly at him. "I might get in trouble," he continued. "But Haku is…He's my only living friend. So…" he put his hand on the doorknob. "Will you help me get out of here, so I can help him?"

Naruto looked at the movement of Gaara's eyes carefully. He seemed to hesitate, more so with Naruto's explanation than his actual decision before he finally inclined his head in what looked to be compliance. Naruto smiled at the policeman again, before he turned the doorknob and made his way out the door. Instead of the sort of looming and uneasy presence he usually felt when the redhead, tall as he was, stood behind him, Naruto felt…safe.

* * *

Naruto had been foolish to think that it was going to be a big deal getting out of the hospital. There were no officers blocking his way, or nurses on the lookout to see if he was going to leave. It seemed that Kurenai actually trusted him to stay and wait for Kakashi to arrive. Naruto didn't know whether to be pleased or worried about that. He hated disappointing people and doing this meant that the red eyed woman was never going to trust them again.

Naruto shook his head. They were walking outside now and with the sun as high as it was, it wasn't as cold as it was yesterday. He'd told Gaara that he knew how to get to Phone Book from his house, but wasn't sure how to get there from the hospital. The redhead had simply led Naruto to a bus stop, where they waited for the bus for about ten minutes. When the bus came he was about to tell the redhead he didn't have any money, but the bus driver had greeted Gaara with a smile and let them both in without paying the fare. Naruto had blinked at that. It seemed pretty much everyone knew the redhead around here.

Maybe ten minutes into the bus ride, Naruto started to find the neighborhood familiar, and they had gotten off where he thought was closest to Phone Booth. It was still a five minute walk, but it was no trouble considering it would have been at least thirty if they had walked from the hospital.

Now that Naruto was finally back in his neighborhood after what seemed like an eternity away from it, he felt a pit of depression come to him. He recognized the corners where he used to sleep when he was too tired to go home, the places where he got beat up, the stores he got kicked out of, the ally's where he got high. It brought back too many memories of his past. Maybe Kakashi had been right. Maybe Naruto couldn't live here. Especially not with Kiba. He didn't think he would fall under the influence again, he just knew that this kind of place just wasn't…it wasn't right for him. Not for someone who wanted to change, who wanted to be a better person.

So lost in his thoughts, he almost didn't stop when they reached _Phone Booth_, disguised as an abandoned workshop during the daytime. Naruto stopped in front of the small building with a sigh. He knew Haku would be home—Zabuza didn't allow him to go outside—but he wasn't sure if Zabuza would be. Naruto supposed Haku was the one he really wanted to talk to anyway. When his husband came home, Haku would just tell him what Naruto said.

The blonde took a small step back from the building and looked up at the windows to see if he'd see any open windows. They were all shut, and Naruto sighed. He would have to knock and possibly be hassled by one of Zabuza's look-out goons.

Before he knocked he turned around to see how Gaara was doing. The redhead was looking at the building with a blank look. Naruto sighed and turned to knock. You never had to knock hard on the _Phone Booth_ door. There were always people there to answer the door.

On the fifth knock, a long rectangular peep hole slid to the side to reveal a pair of dark eyes. "What's the password?"

"Is Haku there?" Naruto asked lightly. "I need to speak to him. Tell him it's Naruto."

Naruto saw the eyes blink, as if hesitating. No, Naruto didn't know the password, which probably changed every day, but hardly anyone knew Haku's real name, much less that he was a boy.

The rectangular peep hole closed for a moment and Naruto heard feet walking away. He sighed and waited. One minute later, the door was opening, and instead of seeing an unfamiliar guard of sorts, Naruto saw Zabuza, with his arms crossed and a smirk on his face. Naruto twitched slightly and tried to smile back. Now that he thought about it, it really was Haku he wanted to speak to. He had no real interest in helping this man. As he walked started to walk towards the beady eyed man, he saw Zabuza freeze, frowning at a sight behind the blonde.

"Who the fuck is this kid?" he asked with quiet ferocity.

Naruto blinked before he looked behind him. He was surprised when he saw Gaara less than a few feet away. He'd almost forgotten about the redhead. Naruto tried to smile again. "Uh…h-he's my friend." He said lightly.

Zabuza glared at Gaara before eyeing him up and down. Then he spit at a spot next the policeman's feet. "He's not my type." He said. "He'll have to pay full price if he wants something from me."

Naruto blinked multiple types, spluttering a bit before shaking his head ferociously. "N-n-no. G-Gaara doesn't…he wouldn't…" Naruto tried to formulate words, but he couldn't. The thought of Gaara actually selling his body for drugs sent…disturbing images through his mind. Finally he held his head downcast and took a deep breath. "Gaara doesn't do drugs, Zabuza—"

"Bullshit." The man said with a small laugh. "I know a druggie when I see one. Look at that face. This kid is probably high right now."

Naruto frowned up at Zabuza. "He doesn't," but then he stopped and shook his head. There was no use arguing about something like this right now. "I—Zabuza we're not here for drugs. There's something I want to tell you. Both of you. Where's Haku?"

Zabuza narrowed his eyes. "What the hell do you want to tell me?" he asked, ignoring Naruto's question.

Naruto blinked up at Zabuza slowly before responding. "I can't tell you out here. Let us inside."

Zabuza took a step aside to allow them in, but stopped Gaara with a hand. "Your _friend_ has to be searched, blondie."

Naruto looked back at Gaara worriedly. "Do you…mind being searched Gaara?"

The redhead looked at him, but didn't get a chance to answer as a large man, possibly the one who first answered the door, started patting Gaara all around.

Naruto would have continued to watch but Zabuza snapped him out of it. "What the hell do you want to tell me, kid?"

Naruto blinked, lost for a moment, before he nodded his head. He'd rehearsed a bit of this when he was on the bus. "You and Haku have to run." He said gravely. "The crystal meth—"

Naruto didn't have a chance to finish.

"Hey boss!" yelled the man behind them. "This guy's a _cop_!"

Naruto blinked. Then he blinked again. And then he tensed all over. Oh. _Shit_.

"_Zabuza_," he started, but the beady eyed man was already stomping over to his goon who was pointing a gun at Gaara. The goon held a badge in his hand.

"This was in his pocket." The goon said, breathing hard, as if this discovery was taking a lot out of him.

"Zabuza," Naruto started again, already panicking. "It's not what you think. Gaara's—"

"Gaara…" Zabuza said lightly, as if testing the name in his mouth. "I knew I heard that name from somewhere…but I didn't think…" he paused, and took the badge away from the man. "Hmm…" he said lightly. "Hatake Police Department. This shit's _legit_."

Naruto's hands were shaking. His heart was pounding. He'd completely forgotten that Gaara hardly had any business being here as a _policeman_. How could he have been so stupid as to—

"You know, Naruto." Zabuza continued. He slowly took the gun away from his goon and pointed at Gaara himself. "Hold the fucker still." He said. The man did as he was told, coming up behind Gaara quickly—as if afraid the redhead would run away— and holding his hands behind his back.

Naruto put a hand to his mouth. "Zabuza, please understand. This is not—Gaara won't…he's not like the others. He—"

"Don't worry your little head, Naruto." Zabuza said lightly, a small smile on his lips. "You see, I always knew I would be betrayed somehow, someday, by one of my customers…but I never thought it would be you."

"I'm not _betraying_ you," Naruto started to say, but Zabuza interrupted.

"Breathe easy, blondie. You'll be dead before you see the way I mutilate your friend here." Zabuza paused to cackle, before he shook his head and continued. "I know what happened. You don't have to tell me. You got high, you met a policeman who was gonna take you in, but he felt sorry for you and decided not to, for the simple price of you giving away where you got all your goods—"

"That's _not_—"

"Ah, but your tears say more than that, blondie. Your tears tell me that you've got feelings for this deputy hog. Tell me Naruto, you fuck em' yet? Has he seen that _carcass_ body of yours?" Zabuza cackled again, before he turned to look at Gaara fully. The redhead, Naruto saw with blurred eyes, looked as impassive as usual, with his eyes revealing nothing. Naruto saw Zabuza frown.

The blonde shook his head and shouted. "I came here to tell you to run away!"

Zabuza paused and looked at him. "Run away from _what_?"

Naruto blinked, surprised that Zabuza was paying full attention to him, and continued. "I…the police…found some of the meth I…_bought_ from you in an apartment building. Some people…know me there, and they know that I know you—so they'll…they'll _find_ you, Zabuza." He sighed; glad to have finally gotten that out. Even if something did happen to him, at least Haku would be able to run away before Neji blabbed.

Zabuza looked at him with a deep frown. "So you're telling me," he started gruffly, "that you fucked up." He finished.

Naruto blinked. "I…" he looked away. "Yes."

To his surprise, Zabuza smirked. "Well, it's sweet of you to come and warn us, Naruto. But that still doesn't explain why you brought a _cop_ with you." He laughed then, and shook his head. "Interesting story, Naruto. But I'm still going to blow both your heads off."

Naruto shook his head desperately, "_No_, Zabuza! You don't understand! Gaara's not—h-he—" Naruto paused in a frustrated gasp. He didn't know what to say. He wanted to tell Zabuza that Gaara was different, even if he was a cop, but that wouldn't change things. The redhead was a policeman and that's all that mattered to Zabuza. Naruto shut his eyes and clutched the sides of his head. His heart was racing, and his mind was tossing thoughts in his head. He regretted bringing Gaara along. He should have come here on his own, no matter the consequences he would face when he came back—_if_ he came back. Naruto shook his head. But that didn't matter, did it? It was one thing to get hurt, but it was another thing entirely to get someone else hurt.

"Don't go and have a heart attack on me, blondie." said Zabuza with a chuckle. He pointed the gun away from Gaara and turned to fully face the blonde. "It's a shame, really…" he started with a softness that didn't become him. "You are…_were_…one of my favorites…" he finished with a smirk and walked towards Naruto. "I can't promise to let your little friend here go, " he said, with the same softness, "but I can promise not to make him suffer… if...you…" Zabuza stood right in front of Naruto now, looming over him with half lidded eyes and parted lips. One of his fingers reached to trace Naruto's chin.

Naruto flinched backwards and closed his eyes. "Listen to me," he started in a whisper. "Gaara won't do anything, I swear. And if…if you _kill_ him—" the thought took Naruto's breath away. "Then you can't run _away_." Naruto opened his eyes and looked up at Zabuza, hoping that something in his face would prove to the man that he was telling the truth.

Zabuza only stared down at him with hard eyes. "You think I'm scared to kill a cop, kid?" he said with quiet fury. "Let me tell you something: Murder is worth the same no matter who it is you kill. A cop, a civilian—it doesn't matter." He spat on the ground. "I'm gonna blow your friend's head off, but not before I teach you lesson about threatening me."

Naruto's eyes widened when Zabuza grabbed his arm. "What—" Naruto was cut off when Zabuza squeezed his arm hard enough to hurt. "Zabu—_ah_—!" Naruto gritted his teeth when the man twisted his arm behind him. The blonde heard the man chuckle, and he closed his eyes in pain. He hissed when Zabuza dug his nails into his skin.

"Listen to me kid." said Zabuza right in Naruto's ear. "When I bend your arm backwards, I'm going to turn you around, throw you on the floor, and _ram_ you into the ground." He said, with dampness in his breath that made Naruto shiver terribly.

Naruto bit his lip to keep the sob from leaving his mouth and he shut his eyes tightly. Everything was going wrong, he thought with another painful cry as Zabuza threw him onto the floor.

"Now," Zabuza said, moving to undo his belt. "This is the last time you'll get to do this, so I'll make it good."

Naruto adopted a horrified look when Zabuza began to undo his belt. When Zabuza said that he would ram the blonde into the ground Naruto didn't think he meant— "Wait!" he yelled, desperately. "I-I-I—_Please_, Zabu—!"

A foot came crashing into Naruto's face before he could plead, and his back collided harshly with the floor. Naruto let out a strangled cry and held his face where Zabuza's foot had kicked him. He felt blood leaving a crevice on his face and he doubled over to scream again—

"Aarrggh!"

Naruto opened his eyes; that wasn't his scream.

When he looked up, he saw a blurry version of Zabuza, whipping around to face something behind him. Naruto tried to wipe his eyes to see better, but ended up smearing blood into his eyes. Naruto opened his mouth to cry out, but another cry interrupted him. Naruto didn't have time to think of who made the sound when another loud thump sounded in his ears, then a shout—a disbelieving bark—and a clink of metal, like the cocking of a gun. Naruto, in a rush, scrambled for the hem of his shirt and wiped what he could of the blood from his eyes and nose. When he looked up, the gasp he wanted to make turned into something more of a choke of disbelief.

The goon who'd been holding Gaara was now on the floor, holding onto his stomach with his mouth open in a silent scream, and Zabuza, who'd been holding the gun, was now staring into the face of a gun held by a less than enthusiastic redhead. Naruto wondered fiercely how the hell this could have happened, and how on earth Gaara was able to keep a face so neutral, as he held a gun to an enemy's face.

"Gaa…" Naruto couldn't finish; he had no words, and a line of blood was finding its way on his lips.

The policeman didn't seem to notice him. Gaara had a line between his eyes that might have been a look of thought, but Naruto couldn't tell. He wanted to shout and say something, but he didn't know exactly what. He knew he couldn't just sit there,; he had to…he had to do something.

Naruto, slowly but surely, stood up from his position from the floor. He winced every once in a while, as he tried to straighten himself up, but he found himself relax when he was finally up. He opened his mouth to speak, but was interrupted.

"You won't shoot me…" said Zabuza softly, with a hint of amusement in his voice. Naruto could only see his back, but he could picture the cocky look on the man's face. "You can't shoot me." He repeated, a bit louder. "That's the common thing about all you cops—or at least the pansies the government send here. You guys get in trouble for shooting people like me, yeah? You have to take me in, expose me for what I've done, and get credit first. Well let me tell you something. All of it will be in vain. I've got people. When I'm gone, all the evidence will disappear with me. So just shoot me, or just let me go. Pick one."

Naruto twitched. What? What the hell was Zabuza saying? Didn't he realize that—

Wait. No, no he _didn't_ understand what kind of person Gaara was. Very few people could. But amidst his worry, Naruto also felt curiosity. What kind of decision would Gaara make, in a time like this?

Naruto scratched that thought with a shake of his head. He didn't want to wait and find out. "Ga-ara," he called out. He coughed a bit when his voice came out as a croak. The redhead had his eyes fixed on Zabuza. The only indication that he'd heard Naruto was the small twitch of his ear.

Naruto nodded. He knew Gaara was listening. "Don't shoot him, okay?" Naruto said lightly. He didn't want to tip-toe around the subject. "He's..." Naruto paused, searching for words he didn't have. "We have to…get out of here…" Naruto took a few steps towards the two, keeping a steady eye at the goon who was now staring at the gun pointed at Zabuza with wide eyes. He didn't look like he would make a grab for Naruto. Naruto took a chance and went around the man until he was facing the redhead's profile from only a few yards away.

Zabuza looked at him with a raised eyebrow, before he smirked. "I knew it." He spat. "There is something going on between you two." He seemed to relax as he crossed his arms. He shook his head and chuckled a bit. "Again, I knew it—I knew this would happen. But from you Naruto? It's incredible. Fucking incredible."

Naruto tried his best not to pay attention to Zabuza. He was looking at Gaara with wide eyes. So far the policeman hadn't looked away from Zabuza once. He wasn't glaring—not like he had with Kankuro—but that small…_tightening_—Naruto didn't know what else to call it—in the corner of his eyes told Naruto that there was something going through the man's mind at the moment. "Gaara," he started again, louder than last time. "Put the gun down, and we can leave."

"Ha! You really think I'll just _let_ you leave after this, Naruto? Let the big guy kill me."

Naruto looked at Zabuza with what he hoped was a warning in his eyes, and looked back at Gaara. He opened his mouth to say his name again, when a sound from ahead alerted him. Three of the four pairs of eyes turned to look at the noise. Naruto sucked in a breath when he saw Haku appearing from behind a corner towards the back of the large room. He had a suspicious look on his face, at first, but the look turned to one of horror when he saw the four men in front of him.

"Zabuza…?" Haku blinked. "_Naruto_? What's…"

"Why the hell are you awake for?" yelled Zabuza. "You stupid _bitch_—the _one_ time I want you to sleep in you decide to wake up—!"

"Zabuza, I heard a _noise_," Haku started desperately. Then he stopped and stared at the gun in Gaara's hand. His eyes went dangerously wide. "_Zabuza_…" he said gravely.

Naruto, filled with relief and devastation, took a step towards Haku.

"You get the hell away from him!" yelled Zabuza, not moving but still with his fists clenched to the side. "Your blonde bastard friend is a traitor, Haku! He brought a cop to snuff out all our supplies and send us to jail!"

"Haku—!" Naruto pleaded. "Don't listen to him, please. He's got it all wrong. Please ,just listen to me—"

"How can I listen to you when that man has a gun pointed to Zabuza's face?" yelled Haku, his face turning red with fear and teetering on rage.

Naruto looked desperately between Zabuza and Gaara. "Gaara, _please_. I'm asking you, put the gun down—_please_." Naruto hastily wiped a tear away from his eyes. Whenever he was flustered like this, angry and desperate like this, he would cry. It embarrassed him almost as much as it angered him. "_Please_, Gaara." He tried again. "For me, please. Put the gun down."

Naruto stared at the redhead for what seemed like an hour before the policeman twitched. It was an odd kind of twitch, as if he'd just woken up from a long sleep or something. The movement came from his neck up, as if the redhead had been trying to swat a fly with his nose. Then, with a slowness that made Naruto want to jump off a building, Gaara's arm lowered until the gun was at his side, away from Zabuza.

The blonde breathed a sigh of relief. "_Thank_ you." He said, making sure that Gaara heard it loud and clear, to show how much he appreciated it. When he turned to look at Zabuza he found the man's face stunned, and staring at the gun that now lay at Gaara's side.

"I was only joking around…" he said lightly, trying to put a mocking tone into his voice, but only managing to sound dazed. "but you two…are together. Aren't you?" The man looked up to glare at Gaara. "Tell me, red." He started, getting the roughness back in his voice. "If blondie over here told you to shoot me, would you have done it? What are you, his _bitch_?"

Naruto felt the hairs on the back of his head stand on end. _Damn it, Zabuza_, he thought. "You've got it all _wrong_." He said, more anger than despair in his voice this time. "Gaara's not…we aren't…Gaara's my…he's my _friend_. He won't…he wouldn't…We didn't come here to hurt you."

Naruto turned to look at Haku then, who was still looking at him with betrayed eyes. "Haku," Naruto started softly. "I came here because Neji, Sasuke's—friend—might tell the police about this place. He hates me. He has…reason to…do that." He finished lamely. "I just…wanted you guys to be prepared, because…my grandmother—she," Naruto closed his eyes. "She's helping me now, a-and I can't go back to…" Naruto let out a shaky sigh, "I can't go back to…_this_. B-but I don't want you guys to get in trouble." He opened his eyes. "I'm under…" he blinked. He didn't know what word to use for this. "I…the police…They have their eyes on me. Some of them…really want to take you down, but Gaara," the blonde gestured towards the redhead, "he's…he's with me. He won't do anything. So trust him. And trust me." He looked hard at Haku. "Please Haku, you're the only one…you're the only real friend I have alive. Trust me. And hide."

Haku face, instead of the understanding that Naruto hoped it would shifted into, morphed into disgust. He put a shaking hand to his large belly and took a step back. "Get out of here, Naruto." he said lowly. He inclined his head so his hair was in his eyes, but the blonde could still see the betrayed glare in them. Zabuza, who had taken a few steps back as well, was smirking at Naruto.

Naruto breathed out noisily. Then he blinked and shivered. "Gaara," he said. He walked up to the policeman and took his arm roughly. "Let's go."

He had to drag Gaara, but by the time he'd finished opening the door, with tense fingers, the redhead was following compliantly. When they were outside, Naruto let out a sob. No tears came out; his body seemed to realize that he'd shed enough, but he was feeling pain all over. His heart was making that slow throbbing noise again, as if it was teasing Naruto's chest with the thought of stopping. "Gaara, "he whimpered, his voice thick. "Did you see the way he _looked_ at me?" the blonde closed his eyes tightly. "I think…I think I've lost them _all_." Another sob escaped him, but again, no tears. When he looked up, the sun hurt his eyes, and the same pain from this morning was coming to him. He started to wonder if coming here was really worth it, if having to see Haku's face, so betrayed and hurt, was worth the pain he was feeling right now. Naruto shook his head. Of course it was. Now they would be alert. They wouldn't be caught by the cops as easily as they would have had it not been for him coming to warn them.

Naruto tried to content himself with that thought, but still, his heart ached, and his eyes were burning. But still, they had to head home. He squint his eyes so he could see what was ahead of him, but only saw the tall policeman, with the sun haloing his red hair majestically. Naruto smiled sadly. "I'm sorry, Gaara." He said. "I'm…I'm always a mess, aren't I? But you see…" Naruto felt his face grimace as he held in another gasping cry. "I think…I think I've lost all my friends."

The redhead surprised him, after several tense moments, by lifting one hand—the one that didn't hold the gun—and looking at it with, from what Naruto could tell through squinted eyes, passionless inquiry. Gaara turned his hand over and stared a bit more, and then he looked up at Naruto, with a slight frown on his face.

"But I am still here." He said lowly.

Naruto blinked. "What?"

Gaara's brows furrowed and he held up his hand to Naruto's face, showing Naruto something that he couldn't quite see. He held his hand up there for a while, and when the blonde only continued to stare, he spoke. "I am still here." He repeated. "Not lost." The redhead shook his head, "You haven't lost them all. I am still here."

Another blink. Then—

Oh.

_Oh_.

It took a lot, for the blonde face not to split with the smile he gave Gaara then. "_Gaara_, " Naruto started, with a thick voice, but he couldn't continue. He remembered now, about what he said about Gaara being his friend when he was talking to Zabuza. It seemed the policeman took it to heart. Naruto shook his head in wonder. He didn't think he'd ever meet a man like this again. He…he wanted to _hug_ the man.

But he refrained himself.

Just barely.

"Gaara." He said, after clearing his voice. "Let's go back to the hospital."

Gaara eyed him for a few long moments, as if trying to understand the sudden change in the blonde's behavior, but then nodded his head, and started heading towards the direction of the bus that would take them back.

Naruto started to follow but stopped, taking a quick look at the door where Haku and Zabuza were hidden behind, and hoping, sadly, that they would heed his warning, and run away. Naruto shut his eyes and shook his head. There was sadness, shame, and disbelief running through his head now. But…but none of those emotions could hold up to the feeling of wonder that built in him as he followed Gaara, the policeman, the redhead, the Schizoid—

His friend.

**

* * *

**

Author's Notes**:**

_11,300 words!_

Yes, it has been four months since I've updated this story. Yes, you have permission to kill me for taking so long. =)

I apologize, but you know—school, and all that. Hopefully the next chapter will come around faster since I've got everything ready for my freshman year in, (drum roll) college! I got accepted to each one I applied to…now to just PICK one.

Picking a college will not be a reason to delay any more updates, so no worries.

Also, I'm sorry if this chapter was a bit...dare I say it, _cheesy_, haha. But I suppose cheesy is how I roll. =)

Now I'm off to update **LFFB**.

**Story Notes****:**

Ah, next chapter we'll have some old characters coming back into the scene, and I think we'll be finally heading to Gaara's house! I hope you're as excited as I am.

Please read, and review, or flame, favorite, alert—whatever. Any kind of recognition makes me happy happy _happy_. Again, sorry for the late update. I made this chapter the best it could be for your long wait. Hopefully the next one will come sooner than this one did.

Till next time.


	13. Here We Are Again

**Oblivion**

A.N/ There will be some offensive material in this chapter.

Chapter Thirteen: _Here We Are Again_

* * *

Kurenai stared at Naruto with fire in her eyes. Or at least more fire than there usually was. She hadn't said anything yet, which could be good or bad. She might be thinking of what she should say, to have the most powerful effect, or she could be screaming in her mind, and spend herself internally before huffing out and letting them go unscathed. Naruto really doubted it was the latter.

They sat in Kurenai's office for the second time that day. Gaara was forced to sit in the chair beside him—or rather was _coaxed_ gently by the red-eyed woman to take a seat.

The room seemed different now. The last time the blonde was here, he could barely see anything. As he looked around, trying to avoid Kurenai's eyes, he saw that in each corner there was a small library of books, all stacked up neatly on shelves. They looked like textbooks from here, Naruto thought. Some of the side bindings each had one letter, and spelled out one word when next to the other books. When Naruto looked up he saw that the lights were a warm color—cozier than the bright light that assaulted them outside. He decided he liked the warm light. It made his skin lose that pale sickly color and replaced it with something softer—a few shades away from tan. When the blonde looked at Gaara he saw that the light was having a similar effect on the redhead's skin, only—better. As always.

Everything about Gaara was better, Naruto thought.

With a small sigh, he put his head down. It had probably been a full minute since he looked at Kurenai. He was tempted to do it again, but decided against it. He knew what he would see on her face. Anger, or worse, disappointment.

The story of Naruto's life was disappointing people. He didn't think there was one person he met that he didn't disappoint. His grandmother when he left home, Sasuke when he couldn't give up the drugs, that angry blonde policewoman when he didn't spill the beans, the lazy eyed policeman when he realized that the blonde woman had been right all along—Naruto had disappointed everyone. Everyone except for Gaara. But the redhead was a completely different case. Did he even know how to feel disappointment?

Naruto started when a scrape of a chair sounded in front of him. When he looked up he saw Kurenai sitting back down, and still glaring at him. Her cheek was moving oddly, as if she was biting it from the inside of her mouth. Naruto made a small embarrassing sound, like a child trying to clear his throat but getting interrupted. He gulped down and looked away from the woman, who was burning holes into his face. He was about to let his eyes wander again, when the sound of Kurenai's voice made him start again.

"After everything I told you…" she spoke in a tone that was grave.

Naruto blinked at her. He waited for her to speak again, but when she said nothing, he let out a lame, "What?"

Kurenai's eyes narrowed, and the deep breath she took was visible. "After everything I _said_," she repeated, and Naruto could hear the sound of her left hand squeezing the leather armrest. "And _still_," she said—or more like growled.

Naruto put his head down, looking away from her. He lost Kurenai's trust. That was clear enough. But did she really have to look at him like that? Like it went a little deeper than disappointment? As if it was a betrayal instead?

"I'm sorry."

"You could have gotten yourselves _killed_!" the woman suddenly shouted, surprising Naruto. "You could have gotten _Gaara_ killed!"

Naruto winced. It was obvious who the woman cared about more in the situation. But it was understandable to Naruto. He wasn't deserving of anyone's favor really. Not after what he'd done. The rules he'd broken. The people he frustrated.

"I spoke to you, heart to _heart_ about the way Gaara was treated, I told you to be _careful_, I told you to stay in our room and _wait_ for Kakashi to arrive, and you do this? Do you have any idea what this does to any sort of alibi or excuse you were going to make up to tell the police who are going to question you? Do you have any _idea_?" the woman was breathing harshly now. "I'm so tempted to beg Kakashi to reassign you a new parole officer—"

"No!"

The word left Naruto's mouth before he could think twice about it. He felt his face and neck flush with heat, and looked away from Kurenai's bright eyes.

"What was that?" It was a whisper.

Naruto gulped and wrung his hands together. He was embarrassed and nervous for a reason that eluded him. "I…don't want you to take Gaara away." There. He said it as plain as he could.

When Kurenai didn't speak for long moments, he risked looking up at her.

She was watching him with eyes that trembled with surprise and distrust. "Why?" she asked almost angrily. "Because he does what you want? Because he's practically your _slave_—"

"Because he's my friend."

…

…

Naruto gulped again, and put his head down. He surprised even himself with the force he said that, but it had to be done. It was one of those rare times where he was sure of something.

"What did you say?"

Naruto wrinkled his nose. Kurenai asked that a lot. "He's my friend." He said again. "I…I like him, and I wouldn't hurt him. On purpose," he had to add, because it seemed his actions tied to the pains of Gaara's past, which he still had a lot to learn about.

Kurenai stared at him with only surprise now, and it was a while before she finally blinked and looked at the redhead. "Gaara? You and Naruto are friends?" she spoke softly, like she always did with him.

Gaara shifted beside Naruto, and the blonde turned to look at him. The policeman was straightening in his chair. "Yes."

It was plain. Simple.

But then why did that confirmation sent a jolt straight to the base of the heart behind Naruto's chest? The blonde sent a pained smile Gaara's way, even though he wouldn't be able to see it, before turning back to Kurenai. She was still watching the redhead, with something unreadable in her eyes.

When she turned to look back at Naruto, her eyes lost some of the heat but not enough to stop the blonde's initial flinch. There was also something else in Kurenai's eyes. Disbelief? Distrust? He bet more on the latter, but he could understand the reason for the former.

"Naruto."

The blonde jumped at the sound of her voice.

"I want you to go back to your room, the one you slept in last night, and I want you to _wait_. Gaara will stay here with me. I need to talk to him."

Naruto blinked. He didn't understand. Was that it? Wasn't this the part when he got punished? When he supposed to get kicked out of the hospital, or something just as devastating? And why have Gaara stay here? Naruto felt much safer with him.

"What are you waiting for?"

The chill was back in Kurenai's voice, and Naruto scrambled to his feet. "I…" he started softly, before he shook his head lamely, and walked to the door.

"Don't leave your room until you are advised to do so this time." She said, as he was opening the door. "I'm going to look into tightening your house arrest jurisdiction."

There was a word in there that the blonde didn't understand, but he gulped anyway. "Right." He said lamely, before leaving the room and closing the door behind him.

* * *

His room was different now. It wasn't welcoming before but now…

Now it was a sad place. Depression was encouraged by the bland walls and the chipped ceiling—the same ceiling that was so interesting the night before, because of the wonder that came with having Gaara next to him. Now though, when he was all alone, Naruto thought of things he didn't want to think about. Like how much trouble he would probably get into when Kakashi finally came, and the crap he would have to deal with when Neji blabbed his mouth about anything and everything that had to do with Naruto's addiction and the company he kept before his hospitalization.

Naruto sighed. Neji. The hate he felt for the man wasn't the same as before, no, but it was still there, throbbing between his ears with a heat that associated itself with jealously and betrayal. Before, thinking about the lavender haired man made him want to spit; the thought of him was sort of accompanied by an annoyance that ran too deep not to be connected with hatred.

Neji was just a one of those men that seemed to live and breathe to make his life miserable, though it might have not been the case. Naruto just knew that every chance he got, the man would find a way to hurt the blonde. It was just the way he was. Even when they were children, Neji would find ways to get him into trouble, and make him feel like less of a person for a reason unknown to Naruto. He was worse than Sasuke when it came to things like that.

Naruto winced, and clutched his chest with a small fist.

_Sasuke_. This was territory he didn't want to cross right now. He would deal with Sasuke when his heart could take it, when the mere name didn't bring memories, good and bad, of them together. Laughing, crying, screaming, and making love to each other.

Naruto shut his eyes and sighed deeply. At least the name didn't bring tears to his eyes anymore. Not as many as it did before anyway. Sasuke was simply a past he wanted to erase, or at least smudge, so that the pain that came with the breakup would stop hitting him every time he thought about the raven haired man. It was time to move on wasn't it? Even if it was Naruto's fault he left, and even if he lost the only lover he would have, Naruto would be fine, because his heart was healing and learning to forgive and _forget_.

He didn't even want to kill Neji anymore. That was an improvement, right? Come to think of it, he thought differently about a lot of people since he'd first them. Hell, Gaara was his _friend_ now.

Naruto had to quirk a smile at that, despite everything.

It was a knock that woke him up, maybe a little less than two hours later. Naruto blinked his eyes open groggily, and wiped a tired arm through his eyes.

"I'm coming in." said a muffled voice from outside. When the door opened, Kurenai stepped inside with an unreadable face. "Were you sleeping?" she asked softly.

Naruto blinked a few more times before he nodded painfully; there were cricks in his neck from the nap he'd just taken.

"Sorry." It was a curt apology. The red-eyed woman had her hands in fists at her side, and she seemed almost uncomfortable standing there.

Naruto straightened himself from the bed and made a move to get off it. "What's going on?"

Kurenai only stared at him for the longest time, analyzing him, scrutinizing him with her eyes. Naruto sat there, uncomfortably. He couldn't look into her eyes for long; he always turned away at the fifth second, staring awkwardly to the side, wondering what the hell she was looking for in him.

"Naruto. What I said earlier…"

The blonde waited.

Kurenai sighed and shook her head. "Forget it. It's nothing." She seemed to shake whatever was bothering her off, and she stood up a little straighter. "Get up. We're going back to my office. Kakashi's here." She paused then, and she gave Naruto an unreadable look. "And he brought someone with him."

Naruto forced down the gulp that would have made his fear obvious. He didn't say anything because he knew a tremor in his voice would betray his emotions. Instead he just stood up to find his shoes, put them on, and met Kurenai at the door.

The doctor eyed him for half of a second before she moved away from the door and started for the hall. That left Naruto to close the door behind him and follow her.

She walked in long strides, not really caring for Naruto's difficulty in keeping up. He didn't know why he lagged behind so much. He understood how he could fall behind from Gaara—because the redhead was a giant—but Kurenai couldn't be more than three inches taller than him.

The red-eyed woman looked back at him once, and still she didn't slow down, only gave him that _look_ again, before keeping up with her pace.

When they finally arrived at Kurenai's door, Naruto was out of breath. They didn't even have to go up or down stairs and he felt like he'd walked a mile.

Kurenai waited for him before she opened the door to her office, which he was thankful for. It gave him a chance to catch his breath and brace himself against the wall for a moment.

"What's wrong with you…" Kurenai asked lightly. She stared at him critically. "Are you out of breath?"

Naruto nodded his head helplessly. He tried to say something, but coughed instead. He didn't know what was wrong with him—was it another withdrawal symptom?

He took long deep breaths, calming himself down before he made everything worse by panicking. After a few minutes, he was breathing easy again and the headache that had started to form was receding.

"I…" he started lamely. "I'm fine." He gasped softly. "I just…" he blinked hard and tried to stand up straight. "I'm fine." He said nodding head. He wasn't sure who he was trying to convince—Kurenai or himself?

Speaking of which, she was looking at Naruto with worried eyes now. "You know what," she started lightly. "Maybe we shouldn't do this. Maybe we should save it for another time. You're obviously sick Naruto. You've been here for two days and we have yet to run the proper tests on you."

Naruto opened his mouth to speak but stopped short. He was about to say that he was alright, but why would he do that when he would have a chance of getting out of this, have a chance of not answering the difficult questions they were going to throw at him…

"I…" he started quietly.

He didn't have a chance to speak when the door to Kurenai's office opened and a familiar grey haired man stepped out. He seemed startled when he saw them standing right outside. "You're here. I was coming to look for you." he said, stepping all the way out.

Kurenai gave the blonde a lingering look before she turned to Kakashi. "Yes, we're here. Naruto and I were just having a small talk."

Kakashi looked from her to Naruto. When he faced Naruto he paused and his eyes became a little more solemn.

The blonde suddenly remembered where they left off. He wasn't as angry as he was then, so all that was left was an awkward air in between them.

It was Kakashi who cleared his throat and broke the silence. "We should get going then." He said lightly. "We're all waiting inside."

Naruto twitched; _we're_. He already knew what he was going to see in there. The last person he wanted to see right now, and maybe Gaara, since he was his parole officer. Knowing that Kakashi would be in there as well also put Naruto on edge.

"Well, then." Said Kurenai, with a loud intake of breath. "Why are we just standing out here?" before the blonde could protest, she took his arm and swung him over, while opening the door with her other hand. Naruto was inside the office before he could blink.

The first thing he was assaulted with was the change in lighting. The warm, almost orange bulbs contrasted too sharply with the florescent ones outside, especially now that he didn't even want to be in here.

He expected to see familiar long hair first, because his eyes always managed to fall on the worst things first, but he was surprised when his eyes fell on a muscled man instead. A muscled man, who was glaring at him with too familiar eyes.

"What are you staring at, brat?"

Naruto blinked. What was Kankuro doing here? He didn't really have a chance to think about it, because when he shifted his eyes to the left of the room, the last man he wanted to see was sitting there, eyeing him with a smirk on his mouth.

"Well, well, well. If it isn't my old friend."

_Neji._

Naruto's mouth twitched in a way that he knew gave away his disgust. The hate that he thought he'd gotten rid of was coming back, slowly but surely. All he could see was the image of the long haired man with his ex-boyfriend, laughing it up, enjoying each other, while he stayed here in the hospital and suffered.

"Lets get this over with." Kakashi said, walking into he room and closing the door behind him. He stood next to Kankuro, and leaned against Kurenai's desk. Kurenai made a move to take a seat behind her desk, but something in Kakashi's eyes made her pause. "What is it?" she asked.

"Kurenai," the grey haired man stared slowly. "This is…an interrogation. A private session between city officials and…"he looked at Naruto momentarily…"suspected persons."

Kurenai looked blank for a moment, before her face morphed to taken aback. "Are you telling me to leave my own office, so you can have a meeting with one of my patients?"

Kakashi opened his mouth to speak, but Kurenai stopped him. "You know me, Kakashi. I'm not going to leave you alone in my office to discuss something with my patient—"

"This is beyond you, Kurenai. You and I both know the policies—"

"Don't you dare start with that policy bullshit." Kurenai almost spat. "How many rules have you broken with him alone?" she said pointing to Naruto. "How many have you broken with Gaara?" she said pointing in another direction.

It was then that Naruto realized that there was another figure standing in the far right corner of the office. He was almost knocked down by the relief that hit him when he saw the redhead standing there, leaning against the wall the usual listlessness on his face. But it wasn't really listlessness anymore, was it? It was more like innocence now.

Kakashi sighed loudly, and Naruto's attention was brought back to the issue at hand. He didn't really understand what was going on. Apparently Kurenai had to leave the room…?

"Fine, then." Kakashi said. "Stay. But know that all of this is confidential." He went around the room when he said this.

Kurenai scoffed and took a seat behind her desk with a loud plop. "Do you even have to remind us?"

Kakashi narrowed his eyes at her for only a moment, before he turned back to Naruto. "Take a seat." He said, pointing to a chair Naruto hadn't noticed before. It was right beside the door, and faced Kurenai's desk. When Naruto sat in it, he found himself facing everyone at once. He gulped noisily.

"We'll start right away, Naruto." Said Kakashi, eyeing him with a critical eye. "We're going to ask you some questions first, and then we're going to ask Mr. Hyuuga here to recall his version of the night."

Naruto only nodded his head.

Kakashi sighed and leaned backwards onto the desk. "I'm guessing you know what this is all about? A considerable amount of crystal methamphetamine was found in an apartment building not too far from yours two days ago. We have reason to believe that the meth'd been present for longer, but was only brought to the authorities _now_ for reasons unknown to me." There was an annoyance in Kakashi's voice that Naruto didn't understand. "We didn't really have a lead as to who might have left the meth until we spoke to Hyuuga here," he said pointing towards the long haired man, "but after what he told us, we have no choice but to ask you, Naruto: where were you the night before you were taken to the hospital?"

There were so many words, so many phrases that Naruto had trouble keeping up with, but the question the grey haired man led up to rang in his ears. _Where were you the night before you were taken to the hospital?_

He didn't have to lie, he realized, now that he warned Zabuza and Haku. He just couldn't give names or locations—it would ruin everything.

But wait. Telling them the truth, meant telling them that _he_ was the one who brought the meth to the building, and confirming what they already knew: that he _did_ have something to do with the middle eastern drug marketing scandal that they kept talking about. Would the deal he and Kakashi made together still hold strong after that? Especially now that there were so many people in the room to protest? It wasn't a private deal anymore.

"Naruto, we're waiting."

The blonde took a deep breath. He still didn't know what to do. Was he afraid for his friends, or was he afraid for himself? More for himself, right? Because his friends, as far as he knew, were safe now that he'd warned them. Still though, what about _him_? How was he supposed to get out of this?

"Naruto…" Kakashi, started again, with something akin to a warning in his voice.

"Sir, if you would permit me to speak." said a haughty voice at the other side of the room. Everyone turned to look at Neji who didn't look the least bit fazed by the several eyes staring back at him.

Kakashi raised an eyebrow, "What is it?"

Neji shrugged his shoulders. "I just think it would be smarter to hear my story, then have him answer the questions. That way he would know what we know, and he'll realize that lying would be futile." Neji stared right at Naruto when he said that.

Naruto twitched—but it had nothing to do with nervousness, it had nothing to do with fear—only anger. Neji was one of those guys—more like girls—from high school who knew exactly where to hit you, to make everything around you fall apart.

"I see…" said Kakashi lightly, looking at Neji, unimpressed. "Very well then. Let's hear your side of the story."

Neji smiled widely, and to anyone else it might have looked like a smile of a Roman god, but Naruto knew that anything from the long-haired man came from beneath the earth.

"It's actually a funny story," said Neji crossing his legs. "Almost embarrassing to tell…I'm sure more embarrassing for some than others—" again that sideways and obvious look towards Naruto. He chuckled then, and shook his head as if recalling the memory.

"Why the hell don't you just get on with it?" said Kankuro, impatience dripping from his voice..

Neji took one look at Kankuro, sighed passively and began to speak again. "Naruto has always been a bit…unstable…"

Naruto had to clench the sides of his chair. He knew it, he knew it, he _knew_ that stupid long-haired _bastard_ was going to take this whole thing to a place it didn't need to _go_—

"He started drugs before high school, and—"

"Not _true_." Naruto seethed, and he was only half surprised by the anger in his voice.

Neji shrugged, seemingly oblivious to Naruto's anger and continued. "Around that time," he corrected offhandedly. "He'd been having trouble at home so he turned to drugs, like most people in that kind of setting do." He let out a chuckle that was inappropriate for the conversation and continued, "I only knew this because he was dating one of my very good friends at the time."

"What friend?" Kakashi asked, when Neji paused for several moments.

"Sasuke Uchiha."

Naruto tensed at the name.

There was a bit of silence in the room for a time, before Kakashi cleared his throat and asked, "…and was Sasuke taking drugs too? Was he the one who got Naruto into the—"

"No, no, not at all." Neji said with yet another posh chuckle. "Sasuke was never into those kinds of things. He said it himself that he was disgusted by his boyfriend's habits and would always—"

"Wait, wait, wait—" said Kankuro, interrupting once again. "What the hell is this guy talking about? _Boyfriend_?"

When Naruto looked up he saw similar faces on Kakashi and Kurenai, some sort of odd disbelief mixed with disgust—although it was mostly disgust on Kankuro's part.

Before he could say anything, Neji spoke. "Were none of you aware of Naruto's…sexual lifestyle? Mine as well, I suppose." Another infuriating chuckle.

Kankuro literally spat. "Fucking hell," he started viciously, glaring at Naruto with distaste. "You bring me here, on my day off, against my will, and now I have to find out that I'm working with a bunch of _fags_?"

"Kankuro!" Kurenai exclaimed disbelievingly before she turned to give Naruto more of that look. "Naruto, is this true? Are you a homosexual?"

Naruto looked back at the group and hesitated. What was going on? Why was this such a big deal?

"I…yes?"

"Fucking hell," Kankuro said once again, putting his hands to his face.

Naruto made a face. What was the big _deal_?

"All right, we are getting off track here." Kakashi said with a wave of his head, but he couldn't quite hide the disturbed look on his face. "Neji, if you will?"

The long-haired man nodded majestically and continued. "As I was saying, before I was rudely interrupted," he turned to glare at Kankuro, but it was nothing compared to the glare the muscled-man gave him back. Neji wasn't fazed. "Sasuke couldn't take what Naruto was doing to himself. He'd given up on trying to fix him, and dumped him." He paused then, and chuckled again. He looked down with mock bashfulness before he continued. "Sasuke and I…started to get to know each other very well during Naruto's, ah, downward spiral, I should say?—"

Naruto couldn't really help the twitch that came from him at that moment.

"Where fuck do the drugs come in? No one wans to hear about your sick gay love shit—"

"_Kankuro_," Kurenai seethed, "What is _wrong_ with you?"

Kankuro turned to her to speak again, but Kakashi stepped in front of him. "That's _enough_. We are getting off track here. Kankuro I suggest you keep your thoughts to yourself, and Neji," he said turning to the long-haired man, "get to the point."

Neji only laughed at him and shook his head. "Alright then. Like I told you yesterday. About a week ago, Naruto came to my apartment—the one the methamphetamine was found in, and tried to get Sasuke back after he'd dumped him. He was very upset when Sasuke revealed to him that he wanted to be with me instead. And expressed an anger that I feel would constitute his going to Zabuza, a drug dealer, for more illegal substances."

Naruto tensed. _Shit_.

Kakashi turned to look at Naruto with seriousness in his eyes, "Naruto. Tell me then. Do you know who Zabuza is? He's been on our Wanted List of illegal drug importers for years."

Naruto moved his mouth nervously. "I—"

"Now hold on a second." Said Kurenai cutting in. "Naruto had some sort of confrontation with someone in the building, so that somehow makes him a suspect for the crime?" she inquired disbelievingly. "How does any of this add up?"

Neji looked like he wanted to say something, but Kakashi spoke instead. "Kurenai, of course there are more factors." He sighed and shook his head. "Enough evidence, in fact, that I'm almost positive it was Naruto who left the methamphetamine in that staircase."

"And what evidence would that be?" Kurenai asked apprehensively.

"Well for one thing," the grey haired man started quietly. "Naruto was found in the grocery not too far from said building the next day, and after the tests were run, crystal meth was found in his system. Of course I'm not naïve enough to base it all on that; I know very well that the drugs could have come from anywhere, especially considering the kind of neighborhood he's from. But after further tests, we found that the crystal meth was a special kind of meth—some new middle eastern experiment imported by something more vile than the black market." Kakashi scoffed, and his disgust was evident through the sound. "All that did was narrow the places Naruto could have gotten the meth from. But the evidence doesn't stop there…" the grey haired police man turned to look at Naruto now, with sadness in his eyes. "Going back to the scene of the crime…we found…some things."

He paused for so long that Kurenai cleared her throat.

Kakashi shook his head. "Blood. We found blood."

Naruto narrowed his eyes. Blood? What did blood have to do with anything? Blood wasn't part of—

Then it hit him.

_Oh_.

"At first we thought it was the blood of the person who left the drugs—or maybe vomit or something of the sort. But when we ran tests we found that the blood wasn't from the perpetrator. The blood wasn't even from a human being." Kakashi turned to stare hard at Naruto. "It was the blood of an animal. The blood of a dog."

The tension in the room was tangible, like heavy air pressing down on Naruto's shoulders. The blonde could swear everyone was holding their breath, himself included.

"And then…I remembered out that Naruto checked in a sick, _bleeding_ dog into your clinic Kurenai."

A heavy silence followed soon afterwards, with the blonde breathing rapidly and keeping his head down.

"So what you're saying is…" started Kurenai quietly, "Is that there is no doubt in your mind that Naruto was the one who left the meth in the building all those days ago?"

"What I'm saying is," Kakashi said with another harsh sigh, "Is that Naruto needs to speak up and tell us the truth about what he knows because all the evidence is against him right now—"

"I think this is unfair."

"I think this is _necessary_—"

"I think the lot of you are speaking total _bullshit_." interrupted Kankuro from his side of the room. "We shouldn't even be _having_ this conversation. We should have arrested and put the little shit away when we found him with illegal drugs. Why the _fuck_ are we wasting our time trying to understand the truth? He's just another useless crack-head off the streets. What the hell makes you think he's of more value to us than all the other druggies in that damn city—why in the _fuck_ are we wasting our _damn_ time!"

"Kankuro if you don't keep your mouth shut," started Kurenai angrily.

"What are you going to do about it?" Kankuro seethed, turning to glare at the woman.

Kurenai glared back, standing up from her chair and taking a step towards the large man.

Naruto's own eyes widened at the look in their eyes. In the glares the two were giving to each other he understood the tension that must have been between them for years. The hate traveling amid them wasn't at all foreign.

It almost looked as if the two were going to pounce on each other before Kakashi interjected. "You two," he said angrily, stepping in between them. "We have more important matters at hand—"

"Important _matters_?" said Kankuro, not taking his eyes off Kurenai. "We're trying to get answers from some crack-headed illiterate fool! What part of this is _important_? I wouldn't be surprised if this is another one of your stupid charity schemes!" he shouted turning back to Kurenai. "Just you trying to give another _useless_ citizen of society a benefit of a doubt."

When he said that, he turned his head to glare at a space in the corner. When Naruto turned to see what he was staring at, he winced. Kankuro was looking at Gaara.

Kakashi made a frustrated sound and pulled Kankuro by the collar. "Listen, to me—"

"Why should—"

"That's an _order_, Kankuro."

The larger man scoffed and pulled away from Kakashi.

The grey haired man huffed out another frustrated breath before pointing a finger at the policeman. "You were brought here because you were on duty the supposed night Neji said he'd had the fight with Naruto. I was hoping you'd cooperate and tell me if you remembered anything about that night—I knew you were in that neighborhood."

Kankuro rolled his eyes. "In the neighborhood, but nowhere near that building. The retard was in that building, doing his rounds—or whatever you want to call standing around and doing _nothing_."

Kakashi paused and stared at Kankuro, before he turned around to face slowly at Gaara. The redhead wasn't really looking at the scene before him. His arms were still crossed over his chest, and he was resting some of his weight on the wall.

"Gaara," the grey haired man started slowly. "Do you remember anything from that night?"

There was a pause.

Naruto squeezed the sides of the chair he was seating on. He was sure that if anyone saw him now, it would give his guilt away. His eyes were as wide as saucers, and he could feel sweat forming at his hairline.

When he looked at Gaara, he saw the policeman still leaning against the wall, with the same impassive look on his face.

"Gaara?" Kakashi asked again. "Is there anything that you remember?"

"The retard doesn't know anything. He—"

"Yes."

There was another pregnant pause, and the gulp Naruto forced down his throat was loud in the piercing silence that filled the room.

"What do you remember, Gaara?" Kurenai asked quietly. "Did you see anything peculiar? Anything strange?"

Gaara's eyes slowly turned to look at them, but still, he said nothing.

"Just fucking forget it." Kankuro said, exasperated. "Even if he did see something, he wouldn't tell us, because that's the way he _is_—"

"Shut the _hell_ up, Kankuro." Said Kakashi, angrily. "Now Gaara. Tell me now. Did you or did you not see anything in the building that day?"

"Yes."

Naruto shut his eyes. It was over for him. It was over for him and he knew it. Gaara had a duty to tell everyone what he saw. He would tell everyone, and Naruto couldn't even blame him for it; it was Gaara's _job_. It was what he was _supposed_ to do.

"Then are you going to tell us what you saw, Gaara?" Kurenai asked cautiously.

There was a small pause. No one breathed, no one spoke. Everyone waited for the redhead to say something…—

"No."

Kurenai sighed.

Kakashi swore.

And Kankuro screamed. "Typical! Fucking typical!"

"It doesn't even matter. I doubt Gaara was there at the same time of the incident—"

"Fuck that!" Kankuro said, whipping a hand at the air. "Look at his face—he _saw_ something, but because he's a fucking idiot, he can't fucking spit it out!"

"Damn it, Kankuro. That's enough. We've had what we wanted from you, so now you can leave—"

"I wanna know why we're even wasting our _time_ here." He seethed. "You should be in jail!" he said pointing to Naruto. "You're a fucking pushover!" he shouted at Kakashi. "And you…" he seethed, pointing at Gaara.

Naruto didn't even have to blink when Kankuro suddenly stepped up right in front of the redhead and pointed a finger to his face. "You're fucking _pathetic_ Gaara. I can see it in your eyes—you _saw_ something, but because you're a fucking _retard_—"

"Don't _call_ him that—!" Kurenai shouted, getting up behind Kankuro and grabbing his shoulder.

Kankuro yanked his shoulder away, and only got closer to Gaara's face. "—you can't do anything right! You'll always be the little bitch who does what everyone tells him to do, but when it comes to things that fucking _matter_—"

"_Kankuro_!" Kakashi shouted, pulling the man roughly away from Gaara and shoving him near the door.

"—you're fucking worthless! Why don't you go back to the fucking country and scrub the dirty floors under my fucking feet again you fucking—"

"Stop it!" Kurenai screamed, shoving the larger man with both hands. "How dare you, how _fucking_ dare you—"

"Kankuro leave." Kakashi said, with a look of disbelief and horror. "Get out of here—"

"I'm not leaving!" Kankuro shouted. "Look at him! Looking at him makes me sick, he makes me fucking _sick_. He's a fucking schizoid with no heart and no fucking brain, and a fucking murderer—he killed our fucking _mother_, and you fucking expect me to fucking stand to be in a fucking room with him—he makes me _sick_—Gaara you make me fucking _sick_—go rot, go _rot_ somewhere, I fucking hate everything _about_ you—"

It went on. Longer than Naruto thought Kakashi and Kurenai would allow it to. Both adults had resigned looks of horror, staring at Kankuro with disbelief in their eyes. Even Neji, the bastard, was staring at Kankuro with wide, amused eyes. All eyes were on muscled policeman.

And none were on Gaara.

Not even Kankuro, who was looking straight at him—seeing _through_ him, with red, blind hate in his eyes. Not seeing his brother, not seeing—

_Gaara_, whose head was cast down, and had a single hand holding his forehead, with pale fingers tugging a bit of his hair, and a look of absolute _desolation_ in his eyes. No. No one would see it: the desolation. Because Gaara's eyes had that same tint of emotionlessness, that same tint of impassiveness, that same tint of listlessness that Naruto was so used to—but how could the blonde miss the way the redhead's eyes were dimmed, almost closing, as if sleepy, staring down at the floor, as if he had no strength to gaze ahead, as if he felt _unworthy_ to look up.

It was like seeing a man cry. Naruto felt a tug at his hurt that hurt—an emotion close to empathy, but was something else, something deeper, mixing with pity and understanding, and _tenderness_—

Naruto stood up.

He wouldn't sit there and watch the redhead, his friend, get hurt; even if it was a pain no one else could see, it was a pain he would cater to. For a friend. For Gaara.

When he stood next to the policeman, Kankuro was still spewing the curses and insults, but Naruto could only hear—he wasn't listening. And he didn't think Gaara could hear him either, when the blonde put a hand on the one touching his forehead, tugging into his hair. Gaara peaked up slowly from his downcast position, or rather he only had to move his hand away and stare _down_ at Naruto, and looked at the blonde with a vulnerability that broke Naruto's heart.

"Gaara…" Naruto whispered. He squeezed the fingers he'd managed to hold on to and gave the redhead a smile he knew looked awkward. "It's okay." He barely whispered it.

Gaara only looked at him, his eyes acquiring their normal size. Then the redhead blinked slowly once, leaned back against the wall, and stared listlessly ahead again.

Naruto smiled. Gaara was feeling better now.

"The fuck is this?"

Kankuro's voice pierced through the silence.

Naruto blinked.

That's right—the silence. It had been quiet. Everyone was staring at them now.

Naruto's confidence was gone, deflated once again, and he stuttered.

"Ah…I j-just—"

"Shut the fuck up." Kankuro growled lowly, glaring at the blonde with a seriousness that Naruto'd never seen in a man's eyes before. "Get away from him. He's already a retard, but if you turn him into a fag too…" the threat hung, unsaid, but the hate blew into Naruto like a wave of smoke.

Naruto took a step back.

He was afraid of this man.

"Kankuro—"

"I'm leaving." The policeman said, turning to glare at Kakashi. "Thanks for wasting my time. Now I'll go back to the pregnant wife I actually _know_ how to love." he snapped, glaring at Gaara again.

With that last statement that Naruto didn't quite understand, the muscled man left the room, making sure to slam the door behind him.

The sound reverberated across the room, before it left it in complete utter silence.

The five of them stood there, staring at each other. Kurenai was staring at Naruto with a weird look, and so was Kakashi. When Naruto looked away from them and looked at Gaara, he found the redhead looking at him too, with one eye shielded by a fringe of hair. Naruto gulped. He opened his mouth to say something—

"Well, that was unexpected."

—but of course Neji beat him to it.

When the blonde turned to look at him, Neji had an enormous smile on his face, obviously more than amused by what just happened.

"You know, I think you guys have bigger problems than a drug deal." Then he laughed that infuriating laugh, and leaned back in his chair. "I can't wait to tell Sasuke all about this Naruto. You know. Pillow talk."

Naruto bared his teeth before he could stop himself.

Neji raised an eyebrow at him. "What was that? Still _jealous_, Naruto?" he smiled a sneaky smile and whipped his hair back with a shake of his head. "I had no idea. But really, what is there to be jealous of, when you have a man like that standing next to you." He gave Gaara a look that would seduce any other man, and winked. "But I suppose it won't be long until I take him from you too…" he trailed off, still not taking his eyes off Gaara.

Naruto clenched his fists and a sound came from his mouth. Too pathetic to be a growl, but enough to express his anger.

From the corner of his eye, Naruto could see Kakashi shaking his head.

"Alright, Hyuuga. You've done enough." He gestured for the man to stand up. "Thank you for your services, but you'll have to leave now."

Neji chuckled as he stood, and bowed lightly to no one, before he exited the room. "See you later, Naruto." He called out from behind the door.

When the four of them were in the room, Naruto relaxed. Neji was…infuriating. The hate he'd thought he'd lost was back again, and he didn't know what to do with it. When he gained his strength back, he would beat the hell out of him.

Naruto looked at his puny hands. It would be a long time until then, but the time would come.

"Naruto…" Kakashi said lightly. "About Kankuro…I'm sorry. And the meth…" he shook his head and sighed. "We aren't dropping our suspicions against you, but it's obvious we need to look more into this before we can really question anyone..."

Naruto's eyes widened. _What_?

Kakashi shook his head again. "Due to lack of evidence," he looked at Gaara when he said that, "we can't pursue any charges or suspicions against you. You'll have to complete your house arrest, of course." He added quickly. "But when it comes to the investigation…you're free to go. For now, anyway."

Naruto blinked.

Kurenai cleared her throat. "I guess that's it, then." She said lightly.

Kakashi looked at her once before he shook her head. "Yes. I guess that's it." He looked very solemn. Naruto could tell that this was far from the way the way he wanted this meeting to end.

"Before I go," Kakashi said, turning to look at the redhead. "Your car is as good as new, Gaara. I'll have someone pick it up for you and drop it off at..."

He looked at Kurenai. "Would it be better if someone dropped the car at the hospital or at his house?"

Kurenai hesitated. "Well I suppose that depends on what we'll do with Naruto. He can't stay here...and we were thinking of letting him live with Gaara..."

Kakashi nodded his head. " Yeah, I remember that. It's better that the car is dropped off at then his house then, so someone here can drive Gaara and Naruto back home. I don't think we want Kankuro driving him back again. In fact I don't think Kankuro should have much contact with Gaara at all, after that."

"I told you from the very beginning that they didn't get along. But you _insisted_–"

"Alright, alright," Kakashi said with a shake of his head that was more sadness then exasperation. "I understand now. I won't make the same mistake again. And Gaara," he said, looking at the policeman again. "Why didn't you _tell_ me that your brother was that hateful towards you? I can't imagine the things he's said and done to you when I assigned you both together."

Gaara said nothing. He didn't even look Kakashi's way. Kakashi sighed and ran another tired hand through his hair. "I can't...I can't _imagine_." he repeated and shook his head.

"So he's living with Gaara after all, then." Kurenai said.

"Yes." Kakashi said, nodding. " But you told me earlier how opposed you were to that..."

Naruto's eyes widened. When had Kurenai said that? Was it when she found out he and Gaara were missing?

The red-eyed woman shook her head, and looked away from the both of them. "Things have…changed. Besides, there's nothing much we can do. I don't trust Naruto by himself, and we need him nearby, don't we? For when more suspicions rise against him?"

Kakashi narrowed his eyes at her. "If that's what you think is best…"

Kurenai shrugged his shoulders. "I'll never know for sure what's best. I just know that I want to try this, and see how it goes."

Kakashi stared at her for a moment, before he nodded his head. "Alright then. Will you need my help at all with this?"

Kurenai shook her head. "No. I'll drive them myself."

The gray haired man nodded his head lamely, before he put his hand on the door-knob. "Stay out of trouble." He said to Naruto before he stepped outside.

The silence in the room when he left didn't last long. Kurenai cleared her throat and spoke, "Naruto, I want you to pack everything you came here with. That shouldn't be a problem considering you came with almost nothing."

"Am I…" Naruto began, almost cutting her off. "Am I really going to live with Gaara?" he asked softly.

Kurenai pursed her lips. "Temporarily." She said curtly. "The longest you'll be staying there is the duration of your house arrest, but I doubt it will come to that."

"Then why am I going there in the first place?"

"Because I don't _trust_ you." Kurenai almost hissed. "I don't trust you by yourself….and until recently I didn't trust you with Gaara…but now…" she looked from him to the redhead. "I'm willing to try this. It might be good for the both of you…" She sighed and shook her head. "Once this whole drug dealing situation settles, and your house arrest is over, we're going to leave you in your grandmother's hands. I doubt she'll let you go back to that apartment of yours. "

Naruto twitched at the thought of seeing his grandmother again. Not now, he thought.

"For now, I just want you to get your things, so we can get you out of here."

Naruto nodded his head.

"Gaara, did you hear that?" Kurenai called to the redhead. "Naruto's going to live with you. Are you alright with that?"

Gaara didn't move for a few moments, but Naruto saw that movement in his eyes that said he was thinking about it.

"Yes." He said finally, and even then he didn't look at either of them.

The redhead had a real problem with eye contact, Naruto realized. He wondered if it had to do with the way Kankuro was to him all the time…or maybe the way he'd been treated before.

Naruto shook his head. He was almost disgusted with himself; he'd been so stuck on his problems and his misgivings, when it was obvious who'd had the harder life.

"Alright then." Kurenai said. "We'll be taking my car." She turned to the blonde, "Naruto, get your things. I want everyone ready in thirty minutes."

* * *

The ride to Gaara's home was…different now.

The first time Naruto took this road, he was confused. The second time, he was angry…but now.

Now he really didn't know what to think. His heart was beating fast, because of the enormity of the situation—but he wasn't in a state of panic. Not the way he would have been before. Because now he could say he trusted Kurenai's decision.

And he wanted to be closer to Gaara. Naruto could admit that there was a sort of budding likeness for the redhead growing somewhere in his stomach, but it wasn't something anywhere near what he used to feel for Sasuke. Now it was sort of an appreciation…a sort of gratitude.

Despite everything, Naruto could say that Gaara was probably one of the most genuine people he'd ever met. Weird, but genuine. He didn't think he could trust anyone quite as much as he trusted the redhead.

He sat in the back seat of Kurenai's small car, while Gaara sat in the passenger seat in front with Kurenai. He looked out the window the entire time, actually appreciating the scenery of growing trees, and tiny houses all lined up together, looking identical.

They had to go back to his apartment before they could go to Gaara's. Kurenai had realized that Naruto would have to have clothes, and other things. Naruto tried to say that he didn't have much, but they went anyway. He was almost amused at the way Kurenai flinched at every skitter, every sudden noise. It seemed she'd never really been in a neighborhood as horrible as Naruto's before.

When the two of them went up to the apartment (they made Gaara stay in the car) Kurenai didn't hide her disgust. The door was off of its hinges from the last time Naruto and Gaara were there. There were still marks of blood from Kiba, and the apartment simply stank as a whole. None of the clothes that Naruto brought back with him were clean, and Kurenai shuddered at his used stack of boxers. They'd somehow found a plastic bag to put everything in (which wasn't much in the first place) and Kurenai insisted on putting it in the trunk of the car where no one would smell it. She said the first thing they would do when they went to Gaara's house use his washer to wash his clothes.

They'd spoken a bit about what they would do about Kiba, and decided that Naruto could go with Gaara whenever he visited the hospital, which was often. They also spoke about what Naruto would do while Gaara was out on duty, and they decided that the blonde should stay in the hospital during those hours, and the redhead would pick him up when he was done for the day.

When Naruto asked what he would be doing in the hospital all day, Kurenai told him, very delicately that he was going to be a test-patient to one of their psychiatrist, so he could get the mental benefits of being in an Rehabilitation Center. At first Naruto was against it, but Kurenai assured him that this was simply sitting down and talking to someone about his addictions, and helping him cope with his peculiar withdrawal symptoms.

Naruto put a hand on his stomach. There was a constant dull ache in his stomach now. It was much more pleasant than the throbbing pain he'd felt the time he walked in the rain with Gaara, but it still worried him. He'd eaten what he could of the bread and banana the clinic offered him for breakfast (his stomach was so small it was hardly much) so he knew he wasn't hungry. And did withdrawal really include stomach aches? Naruto wasn't so sure about that.

"You're lucky today." Kurenai said suddenly, from the driver's seat. "Saturday is Gaara's day off, so you two get to spend the rest of the day together, getting to know each other I suppose."

Naruto swallowed. The whole day with Gaara? It sounded…intimidating, but welcomed at the same time. Whenever Gaara was around, there were other, more troubling things surrounding the situation. Like Kiba almost dying, and Naruto getting angry, and the huge blowout in Kurenai's room earlier. It seemed that he and Gaara never really got a chance to just be. Just sit and enjoy each other's presence without drama.

The blonde supposed it would be difficult to have stimulating alone time with the redhead anyway, considering he never spoke, and made it very difficult to interpret his reactions to things. Naruto smiled slightly to himself. he was beginning to understand the policeman despite that, though, wasn't he? He knew when Gaara was thinking, and he thought he knew when he was angry as well—or at least trying to express an emotion he didn't particularly like…

"We're almost there." Kurenai said softly, as if dreading the moment when they arrived.

Naruto wouldn't be surprised if she was. Gaara was like a brother, or a child to her. Someone who was vulnerable and cold easily be hurt. The woman must be so afraid that Naruto being there might damage the redhead somehow.

Naruto let his eyes dim. To be honest, he wasn't even sure he could be trusted with him. He wouldn't hurt Gaara on purpose, that was for sure. But there were probably so many rules, so many things that he could breach that could ruin everything.

"And…here we are…" Kurenai said as she eased into a tiny driveway.

Naruto looked apprehensively at the familiar house. Last time he was here, he'd taken one look at the place, then forced Gaara to take him home again. Naruto sighed and shook his head. How selfish was that of him? Making Gaara walk in the rain like that…

The three of them got out of the car. Kurenai took Naruto's belongings out of her trunk with obvious distaste. "When we get inside I'll put these in the drier." She said.

Gaara was walking towards the house before either of them, leaving Naruto and Kurenai to scramble behind him. When they were at the entrance of the house, Naruto watched the way Gaara carefully handled his keys, as if it was a precious thing, and guided it to the keyhole of his door.

When he opened it, Kurenai walked in first and disappeared down a hallway or something—Naruto couldn't tell as he was still half standing outside. Gaara went in afterwards, and held the door open until the blonde was fully inside.

Naruto's eyes widened at the house.

It was the way it was outside. Quaint. Simple.

There was what looked to be a dining room to his left, with a very small wooden table that couldn't fit more than four people with very small plates at a time. And there was a kitchen right beside the dining room, with a silver sink and a few cabinets above it. The wood on the cabinets were a polished burgundy, and matched well with the small silver refrigerator that stood adjacent the counter parallel to the sink.

To his left was a small living room. There was one small soft chair, and one small loveseat, which would have just been an oversized chair if not for the two padded seat cushions.

The walls were an off-white color that almost seemed to fade into blue.

Naruto blinked. He liked this house.

"Alright." Kurenai said, coming out of a room down a hallway in between the dining room and living room. "Your clothes are in the washer and will be done in about forty minutes. When they're done I want you to take them out and _ask_ Gaara to put them in the dryer for you. It would be preferable if you watched him put them in the dryer so that you do it for _yourself_ next time." She narrowed her eyes at the blonde, seeking understanding.

Naruto nodded.

"Good. Now before I go, there are rules."

Naruto nodded again. He knew there would be.

"Gaara only has one bedroom, so you will sleep on the couch here with a few sheets."

Naruto nodded his head. Kurenai was speaking as if it was some kind of punishment, but despite the smallness of the couch, Naruto knew by just looking at it that it would be much softer then the ratty mattress he had at his apartment.

"Second, food will be provided by Gaara; you will eat what he tells you, save for if you're allergic to anything…" she trailed off, looking at the blonde expectantly.

Naruto shook his head. He wasn't allergic to anything he could think of.

"If, after you've eaten, you're still hungry, you will wait until the next meal to eat again. Gaara will never give you less than an efficient amount."

Naruto wrinkled his nose. Obviously this woman was afraid he was going to give Gaara a hard time, and expect him to do things just because he knew he would listen. But ask for more food? Naruto honestly would be lucky if he could stomach a slice of plain bread.

"You will never be left alone in this house." Kurenai continued. "So Gaara will have to take you to the hospital whenever he has duties. During those times in the hospital, you will serve as a temporary patient in the ward for mentally disabled patients, and you will work with one of our doctors to talk about your…past life."

His life as an addict, Naruto thought solemnly. There were times when he felt like he wouldn't mind taking one snuff, and forgetting the world around him. Especially when he was alone and thinking about himself, and how hard it was going to be a changed person. He did realize that it could be harder, however. The crystal he'd had last wasn't working like the others, he realized. Usually he would be aching and shaking, but it wouldn't last long before he had his next fix. Now that he was going so long without any sort of substance, Naruto could see that he was lucky, and being spared somehow. There were horrible symptoms of withdrawal, worse than being cold, and getting stomach aches. For some reason those effects—or rather effects similar like them, came sporadically and at random, usually when Naruto was stressed out.

The blonde shook his head. He didn't get it, but he would take what he got.

"Do you have a problem with what I just said?" Kurenai asked, misunderstanding Naruto's shake of his head.

"No," he replied quickly. "I…don't."

Kurenai narrowed her eyes at him before she continued. "Lastly, not a rule, but a warning." She folded her hands in front of her and looked at Naruto with serious threat in her eyes. "If you do anything that I think can constitute towards Gaara's suffering…" she trailed off for a moment, and looked at Naruto as if she was genuinely afraid for him. "I…don't know what I would do. But you better believe I will make your life _miserable_."

Naruto blinked hard. "I believe you," he said softly. "But…I would never…hurt him on purpose." He felt the need to say.

The doctor pursed her lips. "Accidents will be taken into account." She said lowly.

Naruto didn't think that was at all fair, but he nodded anyway. He understood where the woman was coming from. She had a right to be over protective of the man.

"I don't want anyone leaving this house after today." She said, sighing. "Gaara, I don't know how you planned on spending the night, but…can you please be a dear and…show Naruto where things are? And don't hesitate to tell him he can't do something, and notify me immediately when he starts giving you any trouble." The way Kurenai looked when she said those things made Naruto think that she didn't really believe that the redhead would listen to her.

The doctor cleared her throat. "Alright. So. I will be…on my way." She said putting her hands together. "Gaara your car will be in your driveway by nightfall, and I…hope you two have a good night." She finished finally.

Naruto gave her a small smile, which she returned with difficulty, and Gaara did nothing. That didn't stop the red eyed woman from beaming at him. "I'll see you soon." Se told the policeman exclusively, before turning around, and heading for the door. She shut it behind her gingerly, but not before giving the Naruto another look of warning.

When she was gone, Naruto felt relieved.

But only for a moment.

He remembered the situation he was in, and who he was with.

Gaara Kaze, the policeman. A few weeks ago he would have been trembling in his presence, but Naruto didn't think he was that person anymore. The redhead still made him nervous, but it was more of a light fluttery feeling—not a heavy rock sitting on his stomach.

"Uhm…" Naruto started, turning to face Gaara. Gaara stood there, looking at Naruto with narrowed eyes.

Naruto was taken aback. "U-uhm…" he swallowed. Gaara had never looked at him like that before. He didn't look angry. Only in…deep contemplation.

"W-what is it?" the blonde asked carefully.

The redhead blinked at him, before his eyes resized themselves to normal. He still said nothing.

Naruto wrinkled his nose. "Can I…" he chanced, "see the house?"

Gaara continued staring at him, revealing nothing, before he turned around and made his way down the hall. Naruto stood where he was, staring at the redhead's back in confusion.

Gaara stopped walking when he was in the middle of the hall, and turned to look at Naruto. When he saw the blonde still in the same position, one eye widened, which Naruto was supposed would be the raising of an eyebrow, if the redhead had any.

He took that look as 'you should be following me' and held in a sigh of frustration. After all this time, he still didn't catch on to all of Gaara's little hints. He still hoped that Gaara would say things more often though. When he was right behind Gaara, the redhead started walking again. He made his way to the first door on the right of the hall and opened the door.

"Bathroom." The policeman said.

Before Naruto could even take a look inside, Gaara was walking down the hall again, to the next room. Naruto all but scurried behind the taller man. The next was at the end of the hall that ended with an intersection with doors at the end of each turn.

"Cleaning."

The door at the end was already opened, and Naruto saw two large machines. One made a small rowing noise while the other was silent. Naruto, after a moment, recognized them as a washer and drier. He didn't know the last time he'd come into contact with one. Even when he lived with his grandmother, he never washed his clothes, so he never had any reason to see the washer, or know how to work one.

When he looked back up, he saw Gaara waiting for him at the end of the wall where there it bent towards the right. He nodded at the man, and Gaara wasted no time walking on.

The next room was at the end of the intersection and when Gaara opened it, he actually went inside.

"Bedroom." The man mumbled as he walked inside. He pointed to the bed, "Bed." He pointed to the drawers, "Clothes." He pointed to a door at the end of the room. "Bathroom." Then the redhead promptly turned around and made his way out of the room.

Naruto couldn't help but smile a bit. Gaara's idea of a tour was an odd one. He didn't immediately follow the man out of his bedroom though. He wanted to take in the sight of the man's sleeping quarters for a moment longer. The bed was a size Naruto didn't have the pleasure on sleeping on for years, and the dark blue sheets neatly wrapped around the bed. The floor was carpeted in the same dark floor, and it didn't have any lint or strange dirt littering it. Naruto supposed it would be difficult to cause a huge mess when you were the only one who lived in a house.

Then again, Naruto thought solemnly to himself, he lived alone in his apartment, and it was a filthy mess.

"Naruto."

The blonde jumped, the sound of Gaara's voice tickling something in his lower back. He turned around sheepishly and found the policeman waiting in the middle of the hall, at the intersection. Naruto made his way over there, closing Gaara's bedroom door while he was at it. The redhead started walking towards the door on the other side without preamble, and Naruto had to hurry behind him again.

To Naruto's surprise, the door didn't reveal a room, but stairs that led downstairs. Gaara glided down them, leaving Naruto to stumble after him. When they reached the bottom, Gaara turned on a light and revealed what looked like a basement.

"Basement." Gaara confirmed in a calm voice.

He turned to make his way back up the stairs, but Naruto called out.

"Wait." The blonde said. He was looking at the table at the very end of the dimly lit room, and the ledges on the windows. There were miniature people littering them, complex little figures with small arms, stumped legs, but detailed faces, from what he could see. He walked up to the table where there were a lot of them. The majority looked incomplete compared to the colored ones on the ledges. They were a light brown, sand-ish color, and as Naruto walked closer he realized that the faces were indeed the most detailed parts of the figures. The clothes were a close second. He saw a small man in a suit looking angry, he saw a woman in a dress that revealed miniature panties with a look of seduction on her face, he saw—

Naruto blinked.

He saw a small figure, smaller than the rest, with limp spiked hair, and wide eyes, curled in a fetal position with an animal clutched into his chest. A dog.

Naruto swallowed, with a bit of difficulty.

"Uhm…" he started slowly, his voice cracking. "Who is—"

"Let's go." The policeman said, before Naruto could say anything.

Naruto turned to face him, with urgent eyes, and questions running through his head. When had Gaara had the time to make these?

"Did you do all this?" he asked quietly.

The redhead suddenly looked uncomfortable, or whatever one could call that slight purse of his lips and that slow look to the side. "Let's go." He repeated, not answering the question.

Naruto frowned. "Gaara…"

The taller man looked at him, his eyes acquiring that narrow again. "Yes." he mumbled, not looking nervous, but sounding unappreciative.

Naruto opened his mouth to say something, but hesitated. He wouldn't push. It was impolite to, wasn't it? Even if the old him would have talked up a storm before he got his answers, the blonde wasn't going to do that now. So instead he nodded slowly, and held his tongue. "Right. Sorry."

Gaara said nothing back, and simply turned to go back up the stairs, shutting the lights off as he did so.

Naruto sighed and followed. He didn't know what it would be like living with Gaara, but so far it was…weird.

And the miniature figures…

Naruto took one look back at the table, but couldn't really see since it was so dark. He gave up and turned back around, walking to where the redhead was on top of the stairs.

He would find out about it later, he thought. But for now, he would concentrate on being a good guest.

* * *

End of Chapter

**Author's Note**

A year late, no biggie. _Kidding_. I'm so sorry to all my disappointed fans who I've forced to wait this long. Not sure if a lot of you will remember Oblivion, but those who do, no worries; I fully intend to complete this story. There could have been more to this chapter, but I didn't want you guys to wait another month. I'm trying to get to all the stories I've neglected while in college, so here you go. Not sure this chapter was satisfactory, but I'll do better next time. Next chapter Naruto and Gaara get close, and a lot of secrets will be revealed, so—

Until then.


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